The Champion of Ice
by ToaofIce
Summary: Azula has killed the Avatar. Without Aang there is no hope for his friends or the four nations. No hope, that is, until a stranger from another world is summoned to take his place. Rated T for violence and romance
1. Prologue

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Prologue

Katara held the body of Aang in her arms as Appa flew away from the city. He looked so peaceful, as if he was only sleeping, but Katara knew better. She had watched as the lightning had struck him, killed him, right before her eyes. She

knew that the memory of it would haunt her dreams forever. Sobbing, she begged the spirits to let him come back, knowing that this would never happen. Suddenly she remembered the water from the spirit oasis; maybe, just maybe, it

could heal Aang. She quickly reached for the small vial on her belt, only to find that during the fight it had been broken, and the water had been lost, quietly crying she held Aang close, knowing that he would never be coming back.

Sokka fought back tears as he directed Appa further away from the city, the earth kingdom had fallen, and Aang was dead. They had lost.

...

Just a short week later Azula watched from a high window as Ty Lee ran out of the palace to pick some flowers. She smiled evilly as four of her Dai-Lee agents followed. The earth kingdom had fallen, and soon the fire kingdom would be

hers. She felt no regret taking out those closest to her, Ty Lee and Mei might someday try to betray her. And they might object to her little plan to eliminate her father and brother from the equation… soon, yes, very soon. Everything she

had ever dreamed of would be hers! There was no one left to stop her.


	2. No rest for the weary

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 1

No rest for the weary

Matoro

My name is Matoro, I am a toa. I was gifted with the elements of ice and lightning by the red star just a few months ago, I am also about to die. I have no regrets, nor do I feel as if I was cheated. I was chosen to be the one to save the

universe, by giving my life force to Mata Nui, in my last seconds the mask of life allowed me to see into the future. I saw that my friends would have a long and hard road in front of them, and things would become almost hopeless. But

they would win. I smiled as the last part of me started to become one with the mask. Finally, I had completed my destiny. Suddenly I entered a world of light, and I knew that I had passed from the world. I looked around and saw two

figures. One I recognized from stories of legend, Toa Lhikan, the savior of Metru Nui. The other looked strange to me. There was no trace of technology on his body, he was completely organic. His eyes and the tattoos on his body glowed

with an unnerving energy. Lhikan stepped forward with a sad smile on his face.

"Now is not your time, Matoro. A great tragedy has befallen another world, and you are needed to fix it." I was shocked, saving one world wasn't enough? I had to save two? In frustration I spoke to Lhikan.

"Have I not earned my rest? I have been turned into a toa, fought Piraka, Barraki and a whole horde of sea monsters. Not to mention Bohrok, Rahkshi and hundreds of threats as a Matoran. And I just gave my life, my life, to save a

universe! Why must I save another?" the small figure smiled sadly.

"Because I could not save it, I failed to save my friends and my world is now doomed." He said. His voice sent shivers down my spine; it was as if thousands of beings were all speaking at once with the combined power of the ages. I felt

ashamed, how could I have been angry? An entire world needed my help. So I did what I had always done. I submitted myself to my duty. Lhikan must have sensed this for he smiled.

"Do not fear, perhaps you will find something special in this world. Something that, at the deepest part of your heart stone, you always wished you had." Wondering what he could be talking about I opened my mouth to speak, but they

were already gone. A sensation of falling came over me and as a looked down I noticed that my body had changed. No longer was I covered in armor, and I was no longer a techno-organic. As I looked at my new body in wonder the light

around me faded, and I could see.

…

Matoro looked around; he was standing on a hill all alone. The only landmarks he could make out was a large city built at the foot of what appeared to be a dead volcano in the distance and a beach. He looked down at his new body. He

was glad that Lhikan had given him something to wear, simply because without armor he had no idea how his powers would react. All toa armor limits the power of its wearer and without it Matoro had no idea what he was capable of.

Matoro grabbed his head and felt the strange thing that seemed to be growing there. Was that, hair? He had hair? He then looked down at his arms and legs; they were definitely smaller and less muscular than before. Curious as to

what the rest of his body looked like he ran down to the beach and looked in the still water of a tide pool. He was shocked at what he saw. He stood a little below six feet tall and had piercing blue eyes. His skin was a pale peach color

and the short hair that grew on his head was white as snow. The clothing that Lhikan had given him was white with a gold belt. Upon closer inspection the belt had the Matoran symbols for ice and lighting on it. On top of his tunic there

was white leather that formed a pattern similar to his original armor. There was also a sword buckled to his belt. Matoro looked in the water at himself; it was strange not to have a mask. Matoro wondered if he even had a mask power,

his musings were cut short by a loud scream. Drawing his sword he ran over the next hill and saw a girl (at least he thought that what it was) being surrounded by four men. Her feet had somehow been swallowed by the ground and she

was unable to move. The four men were wearing green robes but Matoro could see armor underneath. Without thinking any further about what he was doing he jumped down in-between the girl and her attackers. The girl seemed

surprised at his appearance but if the men were they didn't show it. They quickly attacked, throwing large mounds of earth at Matoro. Shaking off his surprise at being attacked by an element Matoro channeled his powers though his

sword and destroyed the earth walls being thrown at him with large spikes of ice. He then jumped at one of the men and, not wishing to kill him punched him in the chest. This resulted in nothing but a bruised and throbbing hand for

Matoro. Wincing he back flipped over another attacker and sprayed the area with lightning. Apparently he was not as durable as he once was, but since he was lighter… perhaps. Without giving it another thought Matoro threw himself

into a training maneuver that Kongu had always been trying to teach him. He launched himself into the air and jumped, flipped and swung over the heads of his opponents until he had removed all of their helmets. He then jumped in the

air and attempted to hit them with a bolt of lightning. They dodged the lightning and the second he hit the ground the men created an earth mound around him, trapping everything but his head. They then all attacked at once. Their stone

covered hands speeding at his head with lethal force

…

Ty Lee

My name is Ty Lee. I had left the palace earlier that morning to pick some flowers in the valley outside of the city. I was planning on giving them to my best friend Mai, she was always so depressed and I wanted to cheer her up. I was

surprised when four of Azula's Dai-lee agents suddenly appeared and sunk my feet in the ground.

"Why are you doing this?" I cried out in shock.

"Azula's orders." One of them stated. "Of course, we were supposed to kill you on the spot, but we decided to have a little fun with you first." I was so shocked at this that I screamed. At the sound of my scream a boy came over the next

hill and jumped in front of me. He was carrying a sword that glittered like ice in the sunlight. What was the most striking thing about him was his hair, it was white. Before I could say anything the Dai-Lee had attacked, trying to crush him

with mounds of earth. Without even gathering an element around him the boy created ice spears from the ground and broke the walls of earth. How was that possible, was this boy a waterbender? And if he was, why didn't he have to

channel the water from somewhere? I heard a cry of pain as the boy tried to punch one of the Dai-Lee. He then did the most amazing back flip away from the Dai-Lee, and shot lightning at them. At this my mouth dropped, I knew that

Azula could use lightning, but only firebenders could learn it, and this boy was a waterbender. I least, I thought he was. When I looked again the boy was trapped, and the Dai-Lee were about to kill him, in terror I screamed. And then

abruptly stopped, the boy had saved himself. He had somehow gathered enough water to create huge ice spikes that broke the trap and impaled the Dai-Lee. The men struggled as the last ebbs of their lives drained out of them. The ice

started to stain red with the blood pouring down it. I looked at the boy; he was breathing hard and honestly looked shocked as if he had not expected them to die. There was something about him, a frank naiveté that contrasted his

obvious skill. Who was he?

…

Matoro

I had killed them, I had acted in instinct and that instinct had killed them. When I had tried to escape their trap I had assumed that they would just know it was coming. If I had been fighting the Piraka they would have been out of the

way long before the ice broke though the earth. And even if they had been hit they would have lived through it. I looked at my shaking hands in a mixture of horror and amazement, this world was so very different from mine. These

bodies were not as durable as those I was used too. But what scared me the most was my power level. I had not even broken a sweat. This body did not hamper my powers like my original one did. I glanced at the ice shards still stuck in

the bodies of the attackers. They were stained by a red liquid that was flowing from the bodies of the men. I stared at it, wondering what in the world it was. The sound of struggling behind me brought me back into reality as I

remembered the girl. I turned around to look at her. She had somehow managed to break one of her bonds and was working on the other. I smiled at her tenacity; here I was having a mental crisis while she was focusing on what really

mattered.

"If you stop struggling I might be able to help." At my voice she looked up at me. She had brown hair and was wearing so much pink that I thought my eyes would begin to hurt. She looked at me for a second and, seemingly deciding that

I was not a threat, nodded her head at me. I reached down for the stone clamps over her ankle and took a close look at them. "I'm going to have to freeze them; this might get a little cold." I warned, she just smiled and nodded. As I set

to work I shook my head, this girl was WAY too trusting.

…

Ty Lee

He was so gentle. I could tell that his entire mind was completely focused on freeing my foot. A simple blow to the side would have worked, that's how I freed my other leg, but he was being very careful about it. There was something

about him, so unlike every other guy I had ever known. It was obvious that it had not been his plan to kill the Dai-Lee. It was almost as if he was unaware of the extent of his powers.

I risked a glance at his face as he was working. His eyes were such an amazing color of blue. Sensing that he was being watched he turned to me and raised one eyebrow questioningly. I blushed a bright red, and quickly looked down at

my feet. What was wrong with me? I never blushed. No matter how close a guy had gotten to me I always managed to avoid blushing, and this boy was nowhere near me. It suddenly occurred to me that I did not know his name.

"What is your name?" I was surprised when he asked me first. He was still working on my bindings but glanced up to look at me as I answered.

"My name is Ty Lee, what is yours?"

"Matoro." He answered. "I am a toa of ice."


	3. Azula's special prisoner

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 2

Azula's special prisoner

Zuko

I looked from the window of my room to a dark cliff. On that cliff was the prison that held my uncle Iroh. It was my sister's twisted sense of irony that kept him within viewing distance of the palace, but did not allow me to see him. I

grasped the windowsill until my knuckles became white… just how big a fool was I? I had never intended to kill Aang, only to capture him. But none of that mattered now. All I could remember was the look on Katara's face as my little

sister killed the one person who was in her way. That look haunted me in my dreams, but there was one look that hurt me worse. It was the look she had given me when I had sided with Azula. Her eyes had said what words could not… I

trusted you, and you betrayed me. It was still a mystery to me why I cared so much what she thought of me. I looked out at the prison again, and then I looked to the wall, on this particular wall hung my two swords, my blue sprit

swords. I walked over and picked one up, these swords had fought against the fire nation. In my attempts to capture the Avatar I had let no one stand in my way. Not even my loyalty to my father had stopped me from freeing the Avatar

on several occasions. As I looked at my reflection in the blade I came to a decision. I had made a mistake; if I could I would undo everything I had ever done to help Azula. With a quick flick of my wrist I grabbed the other sword off of the

wall. It was time to make things right.

...

Zuko quickly snuck out of his room. He quietly ran over to Mai's house and tossed a letter though the window of her room. He just as quickly ran towards the exit of the noble quarter. He felt bad about breaking Mai's heart, but he knew

that he could never ask her to follow him into exile. Zuko had to smile to himself at the irony. He had finally gotten everything he had ever wanted… and he was leaving it for his uncle. A few short minutes later the guard standing next to

the prison entrance was on the ground. He was fine but he would have a large bump on his left temple after he woke up. Zuko grabbed the keys and snuck into the prison… now there was no going back.

...

Matoro

"What's a toa?" I looked at the girl in shock… didn't they have toa in this universe? I felt like laughing at her until I saw the look in her eyes. It was so curious and innocent, how could I laugh at a person with eyes like that? Instead I just

smiled at her.

"A toa is someone who can control an element such as ice, or fire." I answered.

"Oh! So is that what you call benders where you're from?" She asked.

"What are benders?" she smiled at my question. Just that little smile seemed to send my mind into a whirl. Who was she that she could mess with me like this?

"Just what you said, benders can control one of the four elements: earth, fire, water and air. Only the Avatar can control all four." Right after she said that her eyes darkened. "Or, he could. He was killed recently, by Azula." At my

questioning look she continued. "Azula is the princess of the fire nation… She was also the one who sent those men after me… to kill me." Suddenly she started crying. I was at a loss, why would she start crying? Then it hit me, this Azula

must have been a close friend. To be honest I could understand her, if I had found out that Nuju or Kopaka had tried to kill me I think that crying would be the least thing I would do. The only thing was… what was I supposed to do about

her? I felt this need to comfort her, to tell her that everything was going to be ok. But I didn't know how! In desperation I did the first thing that came to mind, I wrapped my arms around her. She quietly leaned on me and continued

crying into my chest. I felt extremely uncomfortable, and yet, it felt nice. I liked the feeling of her body so close to mine. I shook my head to clear it. What was wrong with me? If Kongu or Hewkii could see me now they'd surely be laughing,

and yet, I didn't really care. This fact confused me, I honestly didn't care who saw me holding Ty Lee. What had this new body done to my mind?

...

Ty Lee

After I said Azula's name I had remembered who had tried to kill me. I knew it was the truth because the Dai-Lee would not have obeyed anyone else. It was this that had caused me to start crying. How could one of my best friends try to

kill me? We had been friends since childhood; did that mean nothing to her? Was I just another pawn in her climb to power? As I sobbed Matoro put his arms around me. I leaned on his chest and buried my face in his shirt. It was then I

noticed that there was a slight chill emanating from him. It was not a painfully cold chill; it actually felt kind of nice and refreshing. I looked up at him, who was this boy? He smiled at me and I looked down again to hide my blush. What

was wrong with me? I could go to beaches and get every single guy who was there to chase after me and do my bidding. But when this one guy hugged me I fell to pieces. I dried myself up, now was no time to be crying. Now was the

time for action. Matoro let me go and looked back at my bond sheepishly. After giving it a close look he drew back his hand and hit it. He then proceeded to stick his hand into his mouth grimacing in pain. I had to laugh.

"What were you thinking?" I asked. "You just covered rock with ice; you're not going to be able to break it with your hand." He looked at his hand before answering.

"I… I guess you're right. It's just… I'm used to being a lot more durable than this." I looked at him in surprise. I was about to open my mouth when he suddenly drew his sword and smashed the ice and rock surrounding my leg with the

pommel stone. I rubbed my hands up and down my ankle; it felt good to be free.

"What did you mean when you said you used to be more durable?" to be honest I only had the slightest inkling of what durable meant… I thought it meant that he was harder to hurt.

"I used to be partially made of metal." At this I stared at him.

"What? How is that possible?" I asked. He smiled back, but it was a different sort of smile. It was almost as if he was tired, or had once carried a great burden.

"You had better get comfortable… this is going to be kind of a long story" he started, then he looked at the four dead bodies and shuddered. "Actually", he continued "I would prefer we move somewhere out of sight from these… things."

...

Katara sat staring at the fire. Her brother stepped out of his tent and shook his head. It had been a little over a week since Aang had died and she had still not recovered. Not that he was doing much better. It seemed like every time he

looked at Appa he felt like crying. Sokka looked at the sky, in contrast to his sister's mood it was a sunny day. Toph walked into camp carrying more firewood and glanced at Katara. She put down the firewood and walked over to Sokka.

"Has Katara moved yet today?" Sokka shook his head. Toph sighed and looked over at her friend, how could she act like she was the only one affected by Aang's death? All she had done since they had made camp today was sit and

stroke Momo's fur. They were all a little tired but she really should be helping set up the camp. They were currently on their way to meet Sokka and Katara's father and plan what to do next. Although there didn't seem to be much

planning to do. After the earth kingdom had fallen there had been rumors that the water tribes were negotiating terms of surrender with the fire nation. It looked like fire lord had really won. Sokka walked over and sat down next to his

sister. He put his arm around her and gave her a little side hug. Toph came over to the other side and did the same. All three looked into the fire thinking about the same thing. Without an Avatar, could there be any hope?

...

Katara

Evening was approaching. My friends and I had not moved for several hours. We just sat there, each too sad to say anything to the other about the hopelessness that we all felt. Suddenly the fire leapt into the sky. Sokka cried out in

shock as it seemed to explode in front of us. I was about to put out the fire with some water when I say that it had taken the form of a person. And that person was Aang. All three of us were taken aback as he began to speak to us.

"Do not despair, I may be gone, but a hero has been sent to help fix this world. He is currently in the fire nation gathering several people who will be needed to save the world. He will need help, and training, if he is to succeed where I

failed. And I have a personal message for each of you. Toph, take care of Appa and Momo for me, and don't lose hope. Sokka, if you hold to your goal you will succeed. And Katara, I am sorry, I really am. I hope that you will find happiness

elsewhere. I know that I will see you all again. Never give up, this world needs you!" before any of us could recover from shock the fire returned to its original form. We all looked at each other, could there be another Avatar?

...

Zuko ran though the prison until he came to his uncle's cell. Quickly knocking out the guards he opened it. Iroh was sitting against the wall and looked up in surprise at the sight of his nephew.

"Prince Zuko! What is going on?"

"I'm getting you out of here." Zuko said as he broke the lock on Iroh's cell. "I'm so sorry uncle… I made a huge mistake joining Azula." Zuko stopped. He was close to tears as he bowed down to the floor. "Please, uncle, forgive me. I am

so sorry." Zuko looked up as Iroh placed his hand on the fire prince's shoulder and smiled.

"Prince Zuko… I forgive you." Zuko smiled though the tears. Suddenly there was a loud smashing sound from the cell on the other side of the hallway and a voice cried out.

"Iroh, has that nephew of yours finally come to his senses?" Iroh smiled and answered.

"Yes he has. We were about to leave, would you like to come with us?"

"Of course!" the voice answered. Iroh nodded to Zuko who melted the lock on the door. He opened it to reveal a girl on the other side. Iroh smiled and bowed to her.

"Glad to have you with us, Suki of the Kyoshi Warriors."

* * *

Authors note: I had to include Suki somehow. And just to keep you interested… how do we know that Jet really died? Please review (keep in mind this is my first fanfiction)


	4. A heroic sense of humor

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Please read and review! And if you have any ideas for me put them in your reviews, I am open to ideas as to how this fanfiction/crossover will play out.

Thanks!

* * *

Chapter 3

A heroic sense of humor

Sokka

I stared at the map that we had gotten from the earth king while the others finished packing up the camp. Where in the fire nation could this hero be? If Aang had really managed to contact us from the spirit world then that meant two things. One, he was really gone, and would not be coming back. It also meant that perhaps not all hope was lost. If there really was another Avatar out there then they might just win, if they could find him, or her. Katara walked over and looked at the map. She suddenly pointed at an island.

"There… he'll be on Roku's Island".

"Why do you think that?" I asked. It made as much sense as any other island but I was still skeptical.

"Because if he was sent by Aang he will probably head for the place with the most connection with the Avatar, and in the fire nation that's Roku's Island." I looked at Katara; she still had tear streaks on her face. I knew that this had to be

hard for her. Up until now we had all secretly hoped that Aang would return to save us. To hear from him that he would not be coming back must have broken her heart all over again. I nodded and rolled up the map.

"Ok, Roku's Island it is, let's go meet the new hero."

…

Matoro

By the time I had finished telling my story Ty Lee looked utterly confused.

"You mean that you were once a… "techno-organic" and had metal parts?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"And you and your friends were supposed to find this mask that could control life itself?"

"Yeah"

"But in the end you had to use the mask yourself to save the universe by dying?"

"Yes" at this she looked at me with a funny look.

"What did it feel like to die?" I was taken aback by the question.

"Well, it didn't hurt. It felt like I was just… slipping away, like some unknown current had picked up my body and was pulling it from the world." Ty Lee scrunched up her face as if she was trying to imagine it. I smiled at her as we continued walking. She was definitely different than any girl I had known in my home world. Although at times she would remind me of Hahli with how kind she was. But the two were still vastly different. Hahli had been a recorder for a short while; this meant that she was very level headed. Ty Lee still acted like a child at times, but her smile enchanted me. I quickly glanced at her, was this how Jaller felt about Hahli? Suddenly Ty Lee stopped.

"What's wrong" I asked.

"Someone is coming." I quickly looked around. We had been walking away from the city in fear that more attackers would come after us. We had finally gotten under cover in the forest. I berated myself for not being more alert. We were in the perfect place for an ambush. Suddenly a girl launched herself out of the brush at Ty Lee. I was about to jump in front of her when a fireball narrowly missed my head. I turned to face my attacker. It was a young man, about my height, with a scar on the left side of his face. I quickly launched an ice blast at him. This took him by surprise and attached him to a nearby tree. I looked over at Ty Lee to see her fighting with the other girl. I ran over and placed myself between the two. The new girl was about to attack me when an old man came out and grabbed her. He held her back as she struggled to get to Ty Lee.

"Let me go Iroh! That's one of the girls who captured me!" By now the boy had freed himself from the ice and walked over.

"Uncle, perhaps we should take these guys out… after all, Ty Lee works for Azula." At the sound of that name Ty Lee frowned.

"Not anymore I don't, especially after she tried to kill me!" The girl laughed as she struggled to get at Ty Lee.

"Ha! Likely story, why would she try to kill her own?"

"I don't know!" Ty Lee was close to tears again. I put a hand on her shoulder to calm her. Now was not the time to lose our heads. The old man smiled at me and bowed.

"My name is Iroh, former general of the fire nation army. This young man next to me is my nephew Zuko. And the young lady is Suki of the Kyoshi warriors." I liked him almost instantly. He was old, to be sure, but in his eyes glinted wisdom equal to that of Nuju. I bowed in return.

"My name is Matoro, toa Ignika of ice." I looked into the sky and noticed that it was growing dark. "Perhaps we can all tell our respective stories after we have found some shelter." Iroh smiled and nodded.

"Now that's what I like to see, a young man with a good head on his shoulders. Perhaps we can also make some tea." I smiled back. But I still had a burning question.

"What's tea?"

…

That night Matoro was introduced to Iroh's favorite jasmine tea.

"This is amazing!" he exclaimed as he sipped his third cup. "I had no idea that little leaves could taste so good with water!" Iroh beamed at him while Zuko rolled his eyes. The girls had made up after Ty Lee had apologized so much that it began to become embarrassing. While that had been going on the men had exchanged tales and talked about what to do next. Zuko looked at Matoro in wonder. If what he was saying was true then he had already given his all to save a world he was born in, and had now been sent to save this world as well. Iroh stretched out and yawned.

"I think that we can decide where to go tomorrow once the sun rises." Zuko and Matoro nodded. They all knew that they had to escape the fire nation as soon as possible, but they should be safe for the night. Since they did not have any tents they all gathered around the fire. Matoro offered to take first watch and was soon listening to Iroh's snores as well as Zuko and Suki's gentle breathing. Ty Lee was still staring at the sky when he came back from a quick walk around the camp.

"What's up?" Matoro asked. "You should really get some sleep, only Mata Nui knows what we might have to do tomorrow." Ty Lee smiled at him before answering.

"I was just thinking. I never thanked you for saving me." Matoro smiled at the thought of needing thanks for saving someone. He did it so often that it had almost become normal.

"There's really no need to thank me. I'm sure that you would have done the same." Ty Lee sat up and looked at him.

"But I think I need to thank you. After all, I lost a good friend today when she tried to have me killed." Matoro nodded sadly, still wondering what could drive someone to try to kill a good friend. "But I also made a good friend today, you." With that she got up, walked over to Matoro and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Matoro, for saving my life and being my friend." With that she lay back down and closed her eyes. Matoro was glad she could no longer see him. That way she could never know that he was blushing a bright red. Several hours later he woke Zuko to replace him and took his place around the fire. Matoro fell asleep wondering what could have possessed Ty Lee to kiss him.

…

Matoro

I awoke, but something was wrong. I could still see Zuko on watch and the others sleeping but the world seemed different. Almost as if I was looking though stained glass. I felt someone touch my shoulder and turned to see Lhikan. He smiled and motioned me away from camp. I was not entirely surprised when I left my body behind to follow him. I had once used the mask of astral projection after all. I figured that I was in what Iroh had called the spirit world. I followed Lhikan to the nearby beach where he turned to talk to me.

"So Matoro, how are you liking this new body?" I gave myself another look before answering.

"It's ok, I guess. I do want to know what it had done to my mind though." Lhikan smiled knowingly before answering.

"It has done nothing. Everything that you are feeling you could have felt as a Bionicle."

"Even these strange feelings for Ty Lee, could I have felt those as a Bionicle?" I asked. Lhikan looked me in the eyes as he answered.

"Yes Matoro, even as a simple translator for Nuju you were capable of feeling love." I stared at Lhikan, was I in love with Ty Lee? "However" he continued "You most likely did not because you never met the right person." He smiled "It is true however that there is a lot more to love as a human then there will ever be for the Bionicle. But enough about that, if I told you everything then you'd have an easy time of it. And we don't want that do we?" He laughed at my expression of frustration. I had really hoped to get some answers or advice from him. I guess I would just have to ask Zuko later. Lhikan smiled and suddenly we were hundreds of miles away. I looked down at an island that looked like it had been destroyed by a volcano. "Here is where you must go; friends of the Avatar will be there soon, they will be waiting for you. You will need to be taught by one of them if you are to discover your true power in this world." I wanted to ask what he was talking about but all of a sudden I was back by the campsite. I frowned in my frustration. Lhikan might be a hero, but I could do without his sense of humor.

…

Ty Lee

The next morning when I awoke Matoro was telling Iroh about a vision he had seen in his sleep. A hero from his world had told him to go to an island that had once been ravaged by a volcano. Iroh nodded.

"It sounds like the island that was once Avatar Roku's home. It's not far from here; if we could get a boat then we could sail to it in less than a day." Matoro looked surprised when Iroh said we.

"Wait, you're coming with me?" Iroh smiled and nodded.

"We were there when the Avatar died; some of us…" he said glancing at Zuko "feel that we need to atone for that. And on top of all that, it's not like we have anywhere else to go." Matoro nodded and turned to me. Seeing I was awake he started to blush but recovered before it got very bad.

"What about you Ty Lee?" He asked

"I'm coming! I can't go back to the palace after Azula tried to kill me. Plus, if I do go with you then I could help the world get better, instead of making things worse like I used to." Matoro smiled at me. I could tell that he was secretly pleased that I had said yes, but he would never say it. We broke camp and started walking towards a town on the other side of the forest. By chance the men got ahead of Suki and I. I decided to ask the Kyoshi warrior a question.

"Hey, um, Suki… do you know what it's like to be in love?" Suki looked surprised at first, and then she smiled slyly at me.

"Why? Are you in love?"

"I… I'm not sure." I answered truthfully. "I just wondered what it felt like." Suki looked off into the distance and smiled as she answered.

"I fell in love with one of the Avatar's friends. It was strange, he didn't seem like much at first, but he just kept growing on me." I thought I knew who she was talking about but I wanted to make sure.

"Do you mean the cute one?" I asked. Suki turned around and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Hands off, circus freak, he's taken!" I shook my hands in defense.

"No no, I wasn't talking about him; I just think he's cute is all." Suki smiled at me and nodded at Matoro who was walking ahead of us.

"You were talking about him weren't you?" I blushed and she smiled. "It's ok, I feel the same way about Sokka." At my questioning glance she smiled. "Yes, the cute one. If you do feel that way about Matoro you should tell him, men can be so dense some times. I think he feels the same way about you, especially after last night." I blushed as I tried to deny that anything had happened.

"What are you talking about?" Suki smiled.

"I was still awake when you kissed him last night. After you went to sleep he blushed for a while and just stared at you. And this morning, after he woke up, he pulled your blanket up around you since it had slipped off." I blushed and looked away from Suki's smiling face. Was it even possible, could someone who had given his life for friends that he would never see again ever have feelings for me?

…

Toph

I held on tight to Appa's saddle as we approached Roku's island, I hated flying. We had snuck past the fire nation's blockade earlier that morning and we were almost there. Momo jumped from Sokka's shoulder onto mine. He liked to check how we were all doing as the trip got closer to the end. I felt a thump as Appa landed and jumped to the ground as quickly as I could. It felt good to have solid ground beneath me, plus I could see again. And what I saw was interesting indeed. There were five people on the other side of a large mound. It was not the fact that they were there that surprised me, it was who they were. I gestured to Sokka and whispered in his ear.

"Sokka, you're never going to believe who is on the other side of that mound."

"Why, who is it?" He asked. I was about to answer when the person in question walked over the top of the hill and Sokka gave out a whoop. This confirmed what I thought, it was Suki.

"SUKI!" Sokka yelled as he ran up to give his girlfriend a big hug and a kiss. But as soon as he had done that he froze. Katara froze as well; they had both seen what I had sensed, Zuko was here. With a scream of rage Katara gathered up a lot of water and sent it roaring at Zuko. Zuko did nothing to dodge it. It would have killed him if a strange boy had not jumped in front of it and frozen it. Katara then ran up and tried to get past the boy who just kept getting between her and Zuko. In the commotion I felt Iroh and Ty Lee run up the hill. I put my hands on my hips and yelled.

"HEY! WHAT IN THE NAME OF DIRT IS GOING ON HERE!" My yelling was so loud it caused everyone to stop and look at me. No one moved, and then Momo flew over to the new boy and chattered at him. To everyone's surprise he chattered right back. Momo did a comical double take that was only rivaled by Sokka's jaw dropping so low it looked like he had dislocated it. Katara forgot her rage for a moment to look at the boy.

"You… you can speak Lemur?" He smiled

"Oh! So that's what it is. He said his name was Lord Momo of the Momo Dynasty. I thought it sounded a little fishy." Momo chattered at him angrily and he laughed. "Oh, no your Momoness. I am sure that you really are an emperor. And I bet that you like to have your ears scratched as well." With that he started scratching Momo's ears. If I had seeing eyes I would have rolled them. It was obvious that this boy was not an enemy. Momo would not have tried to say anything to him if that was the case.

"Well do you have a name or will we have to call you boy-who-speaks-to-lemurs?" I asked. He smiled at me and bowed as he answered.

"My name is Matoro and I think that I know what you are doing here."

"Really? And just how do you know that?" asked Sokka, still placing himself between Suki and Zuko. "Have you been spying on us?"

"No." Matoro answered. "But I was told that I would meet some of the Avatar's friends on this island." Katara and Sokka looked at each other.

"If you are the hero that Aang told us about… then why are you traveling with him?" Katara said, pointing angrily at Zuko. Matoro seemed taken aback at her anger.

"He's been helping me, he said that he wants to atone for what he's done and I believe him." Katara still did not look convinced and was still trying to get past Matoro. I sighed, if this was the group of people that Aang said was going to

save the universe then he had a very weird sense of humor.


	5. Jealousy

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 4

Jealousy

Azula

Most people would have seen my brother's sudden departure with my uncle as a bad thing for my plans. After all, how could I kill someone who was long gone? Also the failure to kill Ty Lee by my Dai-Lee agents might have been taken as a failure, but I knew better. Things were actually going far better than I could have hoped for. And the thing that clinched it all was Mai. The poor girl was crying at my side at that very moment. She was not sobbing like Ty Lee would have been but there were tears on her cheeks. I had managed to get a hold of the letter Zuko had left her and had added my own little, changes. Instead of apologizing for leaving her and explaining why it instead said that he had run off with Ty Lee and his uncle and that he did not love her any more. I had also made him confess to cheating on her with Ty Lee, something that was complete fiction but for some reason Mai was buying it. My father sat in front of us on his throne, a throne that would soon be mine. He stroked his beard in frustration.

"So you are sure that Zuko not only broke Iroh out of prison, but also killed four of your Dai-Lee and ran off with Ty Lee?" he asked, looking me in the eyes as if he could tell if I was lying. I inwardly smiled; no one could tell when I was lying.

"Yes father. That is what happened." I knew that he would believe me; after all, there was a grain of truth in what I had said. Zuko had broken Iroh out and I assumed that he had rescued Ty Lee during his escape. I had decided not to tell anyone about how the Dai-Lee had died. There was no way that Zuko had done it, not unless he had taken to impaling his enemies on large spikes. What confused me the most was the amount of water around the area. It looked like a waterbender had killed them, but no waterbender could hide in the fire nation long enough to do any damage. My father sighed as he looked at a picture of Zuko hanging on the wall.

"I always knew that he would turn traitor." I nodded my agreement. "Azula, I want you to be in charge of both hunting him down and killing him." I smiled evilly. "I also want you to erase any record of his existence from the fire nation." Even I was shocked at this, not only was father banishing Zuko and ordering his death. He was erasing any evidence that Zuko had even existed, effectively saying that he had never had a son. Mai and I bowed and left the chamber. As soon as we were out of hearing range Mai turned to me.

"Azula, I would like to lead the party that goes after Zuko." I looked at her with interest. "You are needed here. I would also be able to travel quicker and without attracting as much attention." I nodded; she made a good point, so good that I had already considered this and intended to ask her to lead it anyway. She looked down. "There is one more reason that I want to lead the chase."

"And what it that?" I asked. Mai looked up, there was such a rage in her eyes that even I was taken aback.

"I want to be the one to send a dagger into his heart… right after making him watch as his precious Ty Lee dies!" I nodded my consent.

"Very well, gather a team of the best assassins and trackers and rid the world of him!" Mai bowed and left. I had to smile to myself as she walked out of sight; this was going much better than even I had hoped.

…

Ty Lee

We were all sitting around a campfire. Even though one full day had passed Katara still gave Zuko dirty looks ever now and then. In order to keep her from attacking Zuko Matoro had placed himself squarely between them around the fire. I sighed, I knew that what he was doing was good, but if he was sitting between them then I couldn't sit next to him. I hadn't even been able to sit next to him on the flight out of the fire nation and onto the earth kingdom mainland. Sokka finished chewing on a fishbone and looked at Matoro.

"So… I buy that you're the hero that Aang was talking about, but I still have two questions." Matoro nodded. He seemed happy that the questions were so few.

"One, if you're so powerful why do you need us? And two, how were you able to talk to Momo?"

"Well, the answer to the second question is that I used to be a translator for my master." Matoro smiled sadly as he looked into the sky as if remembering. "Old Nuju was interesting all right. He would only speak in the language of small Rahi." At our questioning looks he clarified. "I think you call them animals here. Because of this I became quite fluent in most Rahi languages."

"Wow, how long did it take you to learn all that?" Suki asked.

"Only about one thousand years." This answer made me spit out the sip of tea I had in my mouth. Everyone else around the fire had similar reactions; Katara even stopped glaring at Zuko to gape at Matoro. I asked the next question hesitantly.

"Um, Matoro… how old are you?"

"Well…" he started. "This body that I am in seems to be about 17 years old." We all nodded. "But I lived for at least 7,000 years in my home world, why?"

"Because people don't live that long here, we consider it lucky if you manage to hit a hundred." Now it was Matoro's turn to gawk.

"A paltry HUNDRED years? Wow, this world is different from mine." We all nodded. I was considering the likelihood of him actually liking me (since there was an obvious age difference… or maybe that didn't matter in his new body) when Toph spoke up.

"You never answered the first question." Matoro looked at his feet.

"I need you because first and foremost I need friends. I lost all my old ones when I came to this world; I know it might be a lot to ask from you since we all just met yesterday but… I can't do this alone." We all looked at him; I don't think that we had really thought about it that way until now. We had all lost friends, even people we loved, but he had lost an entire world after living in it for millennia. Katara put her hand around his shoulder, for once she was completely focused on someone other than Zuko.

"Don't worry Matoro. We'll be your friends." Suki coughed and looked at me, when I stared back in confusion she leaned over and whispered in my ear.

"Just thinking that if you are interested in Matoro then you had better out do a certain someone who currently is dangerously close to hugging him." I sat up as if I had been struck by lightning. Katara was actually getting physically closer to Matoro then I had ever tried. I almost leaped over the fire at Matoro and gave him a big hug.

"I'll be your friend Matoro! We'll be best friends, we'll go everywhere together! You will never feel lonely when I'm around!" I was babbling, but it was all I could think of to do with everyone staring at me. Matoro turned his face to look at me, he was blushing.

"Um, Ty, could you let go of me?"

"Oh! Sorry!" I sat down next to him, placing myself on the other side of him from Katara. There was no way that I was letting that little waterbender get her claws on him. Matoro shook himself off and continued.

"I also need training, I have to get used to this new body and the way it affects my powers." The others nodded.

"But who will you train with?" Iroh asked. Matoro looked in my direction; I thought he was looking at me until he asked Katara a question.

"Katara, Ty Lee told me that waterbenders can control Ice as well. She also told me that you were the Avatar's waterbending instructor." Katara nodded. "Then it makes sense that you would be the best choice to teach me." He must have seen my frown because he then turned to me and smiled. "And Ty Lee can help me with my agility training, Zuko with swordplay, Toph with strength training, Suki with martial arts, Sokka with missile accuracy and Iroh can teach me more about the customs of this world." We all nodded, it was a good plan. Katara stood up and brushed herself off and looked at Matoro.

"Well, if you're going to be my student then we had better get started." At that Matoro nodded and stood up. Katara grabbed one of his arms and began to lead him off. I quickly jumped up and attached myself to his other arm.

"Don't forget about me Matoro! I get you next." I purred. This must have made Matoro feel uncomfortable because with a nervous laugh he tried to disentangle me. In the end he was led off by a steaming Katara as I held on to his other arm as if my life depended on it.

…

Katara

I took Matoro to a nearby river and, after dislodging Ty Lee from his arm and making her sit a good ten feet away turned to Matoro.

"Right, to start off the training you need to take off your shirt." Matoro stared at me in confusion.

"I don't see how that would help."

"It lets you move with greater freedom when training." I replied. Matoro nodded thoughtfully to himself and then complied. When I saw his chest I thought I would faint. Although Matoro was rather scrawny his muscles were perfectly formed, almost as if they had been sculpted from marble. I glanced at Ty Lee and could see that she was equally shocked. Just then Toph and Suki came running up.

"Hey, Katara! The guys are cleaning up the camp and we came over to see if there was anything we could do…." Suki's voice faded into an open mouthed shock. Toph folded her arms and looked around.

"Um, what is going on? Why did Suki stop talking? And why have all of your heartbeats increased?" Matoro looked around puzzled.

"What is going on? Do I stink or something? Should I put my shirt back on?"

"NO!" Suki, Ty Lee and I all yelled at the same time. Toph frowned and walked over to Matoro. To our shock she put her hand right where his rock hard abs were. She then smiled up at Matoro and started to explain.

"Oh, I see what happened. They were not expecting you to have such defined muscles." Matoro looked confused.

"But what has that got to do with anything? I mean, I guess my muscles are a little better off than most humans but that is because I once weighed a lot more. Even though my body is now lighter and smaller they're probably still strong enough to support my metal body. Actually, I'm considered quite scrawny where I come from, I know some people who are twice as strong and muscular as me." He looked over at where the three of us were leaning on each other to try to stay standing up. "What does my muscle tone have to do with what happened to them?"

"Oh, if you don't know now then you'll figure out it out later." Toph stated nonchalantly as she walked over to Suki and started dragging her off to the campsite. "Come on Suki, Sokka is waiting."

"Hm? Oh, yes, Sokka." Suki seemed to almost be in a daze as she was dragged off by the younger girl. Matoro still looked confused.

"What in Mata Nui's name is going on here?"

"Nothing!" I quickly stated, although I hadn't expected my voice to squeak when I said it and it came out sounding more like a giggle than a statement. Ty Lee laws laying on her back repeating "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" over and over to herself as she daydreamed. Matoro frowned.

"Do we need to do this later?"

"No! I mean, no. We can train now." I quickly got my voice under control while giving myself a mental note to make sure that he always trained with his shirt off. "Show me what you can do, so I know what I'm working with." Matoro nodded and made a gesture with his arm. Suddenly the entire river froze. With another wave of his hand it returned to its original state. I was impressed; there was a lot of power in him. Matoro looked at his hands and sighed.

"That was horrible" He said sadly.

"What are you talking about?" I asked "That was amazing. You are very powerful, much more powerful than any waterbender I've ever seen."

"All power and no control, this new body does not inhibit my powers so I have no way of telling what will happen. I was just trying to make a little ice on the surface of the river, not freeze it over." I could see what he meant. With all that power it would be easy to hurt someone he cared about accidentally. A lot like Aang in his Avatar state. At the thought of Aang I grew sad again. I must have started to cry because Matoro came over and looked me in the eyes. "What's wrong Katara?" he asked quietly.

"Nothing, I was just remembering working with Aang. You and he are a lot alike and you reminded me of him." Matoro looked at me sadly.

"I'm sorry about that; he must have been a brave person. I am honored to be compared to him."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for," I started, still fighting back tears. "It's just that I miss him so much!" it became too much for me, I broke down crying. I would have fallen to my knees if Matoro had not caught me and pulled me close. Having nothing else to do I cried into his shoulder and hugged him tighter. He wasn't Aang, but he was here. I cried on his shoulder until I felt myself falling off to sleep. I smiled as I drifted off, I hadn't meant to, but I think that I might have fallen for Matoro.

…

Ty Lee

I was awakened from my daydreams involving Matoro by the sound of muffled sobbing. I looked up and my heart sank. Katara must have had a breakdown or something because Matoro was holding her up as she cried, on his bare chest. I only had one question.

"What just happened?" I practically yelled at Matoro. He jumped and somehow managed to keep Katara up at the same time. He glanced at me with a disappointed look and put his finger over his lips.

"Shhhh! Katara fell asleep." He looked down at her sadly. "She must have tired herself out crying." With a deft movement he picked her up and started to walk back towards camp. I quietly followed. The waterbender had won this round, but I was training Matoro next, I would come back out on top! As we walked back to camp I began scheming. When we got to camp Sokka ran up to Matoro and demanded to know what had happened. Matoro explained the whole thing as he laid Katara down on her sleeping pallet around the fire. This was easier said than done because her arms were still locked around his neck. In the end Sokka had to help him untangle himself from her. After that was done Matoro realized that he had left his shirt at the beach and started out after it. I followed of course; no waterbender peasant was going to outdo me when it came to boys and this boy in particular. That was for sure!

…

Matoro

As I walked back to the beach I could feel Ty Lee following me. As I bent down to pick up my shirt she walked around in front of me and stopped me.

"Oh no you don't, do you think just because your waterbending instructor had a cry that means that you're out of training with me?" I sighed, I should have known. I looked up at her and smiled.

"Well? What are we going to do for your section of the training?" Ty Lee grinned evilly at me.

"Today we are going to work on escaping a stranglehold."

"What's a stranglehold?" I asked, the next second Ty Lee had her arms around my neck and had attached herself to me.

"This is a stranglehold." She whispered into my ears as she started to squeeze tighter. In seconds I was nearly out of breath. She let off and stood looking at me in disappointment.

"You should have dodged that before I ever grabbed you." I rubbed my neck ruefully.

"I guess I have a lot to learn about being agile." Ty Lee nodded and smiled. I started to get up, and I never saw the attack coming. Within seconds Ty Lee had immobilized me with a series of jabs to several parts of my body. She smiled as I tried to get back up from the ground.

"I hit you with nerve jabs, very effective and nonlethal if you know how to use them." I groaned in frustration.

"Nice," I started. "Could you teach them to me… after you put me back to the way I was?" Ty Lee smiled.

"I don't know. You're so helpless right now; it's kind of cute really." I started to object but stopped when she sat on top of me and leaned down so that our faces were only inches away from each other.

"Ty… what are you doing?" I nervously asked.

"Making sure that no one gets the jump on me." She smiled. I started to say something when she placed her mouth right on top of mine and started to kiss me. I immediately forgot what I had intended to say to her, and most of everything else that was in my mind. I knew that she wanted this, in a small way I agreed with her, but only in a small way. We barely knew each other and she was already kissing me? I quickly turned my head to the side, breaking the kiss. Ty Lee looked down at me in confusion. "What? Didn't you like it?"

"Weather I liked it or not doesn't matter!" I replied harshly. "We barely know each other, and for all I know I might have to give my life to save THIS world! How can you just immobilize me and then kiss me. That's not kissing me, that's taking advantage of me!" Ty Lee looked hurt. I knew that I had been a little harsh but I had meant every single word. She shouldn't have just assumed that she could do whatever she wanted with me. She slowly got up and started to leave. "Wait… Ty Lee? Where are you going? Darn it Ty Lee I'm still immobilized!" she turned around and looked at me in anger.

"You apparently don't need me, get yourself out of this mess!" with that she flounced off into the forest. I groaned, the only thing that could make this worse was Zaktan appearing to cut me to ribbons. I winced, with how the day had been going I had better not be thinking things like that. It might actually happen.

…

On the far edge of the fire nation a portal opened. A creature was thrown from it and glanced back in fear as the portal closed behind him. He slowly stood up and brushed his bio-mechanical body off. His red eyes took in the scene as he wondered where he was. Just then a bird flew in front of him. Reacting quickly the creature summoned a sword made of shadow and sliced the bird in half. Smiling at the mangled remains the being got an idea; he quickly took the form of the bird and flew towards a nearby city. It was time to find out where he was. He would be silent at first, but soon, very soon, this world would realize that Makuta Mutran had arrived.

* * *

Author's note: Wow, what a chapter! Plenty of questions to be answered. Such as, who will Matoro end up with? How did Mutran get into the Avatar universe? And who will help Mai track down Zuko and Ty Lee? Want to find out? Read the next chapter! and if you have any ideas include them in your review. Thanks and please review!


	6. Alliances and gatherings

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 5

Alliances and gatherings

Katara

When I woke up I was on my sleeping pallet. I had no idea how I got there, the last thing I remember was crying in Matoro's arms and falling asleep. I looked up and saw Sokka watching me. He frowned before asking a question.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine." I smiled at him.

"What happened? Matoro carried you back from training; he said that you fell asleep after crying your eyes out." I winced

"Did he really say that?"

"In so many words." Sokka answered. Just then Ty Lee walked back into camp steaming. Zuko looked up from where he was cleaning his swords.

"Where's Matoro? I thought that you two were training."

"Matoro is currently having a little alone time." With that she walked over to a stump and sat down to pout. Sokka started to get up when I stopped him.

"I'll go get him." Sokka looked like he wanted to disagree with me but I gave him a look that kept him quiet. I walked out of the camp in the direction that Ty Lee had gone. I followed the obvious signs of Ty Lee on a rampage back to the river where we had been training earlier. Then I saw Matoro lying on the ground, unmoving. At my strangle gasp his head turned to face me and he smiled ruefully.

"Hi Katara, do you know how one might get out of Ty Lee's nerve punches?" the situation was so funny that I sat down next to him giggling.

"So," I asked. "What happened? Ty lee came storming back into camp as if you had spurned her." I joked. To my surprise Matoro didn't laugh back.

"Actually, that's pretty close to what happened." I looked at him in surprise.

"What? Did Ty Lee stun you then try to have her way with you?" Matoro blushed.

"Yeah, that is pretty much what happened, I told her that she had no right to use me like that and she grew angry and walked off, and left me here." I smiled at him

"Well, give me a minute and I can get you out of it." I walked over to the water and bended some of it over his body. I quickly began reconnecting the lines of chi that Ty Lee had broken in his body. Matoro smiled wistfully at me.

"What?" I asked.

"I was just thinking how much you remind me of my good friend Hahli." I was surprised.

"In what way do I remind you of her?" I asked, almost dreading the answer.

"You're kind; you don't think that helping people is a burden. You also can control water, just like her, and you can heal, again like her." He then smiled sadly. "You have also lost someone important to you, just like her." I looked at him.

"Who did she lose?"

"Another of my good friends, Jaller, he gave his life to save someone who then was able to save the universe. He was later brought back by a powerful being; it was the happiest day of her life." I noticed that he looked really sad when he mentioned Hahli.

"Did she care for you in the way you cared for her?" Matoro looked at me and smiled.

"You are also good at reading people, another of her qualities." I blushed as he continued. "She was always Jaller's, she never even thought of me as more than a friend, but that was ok. I was just glad that she was happy." He looked up at me. "How long does it take for this to work anyway?"

"You should be able to move now." I said. Matoro slowly moved his arms and checked his entire body to make sure that it was working. He then sat up and looked at me.

"Thank you Katara." I started blushing so I looked away, it wouldn't do any good for him to see me like this if he already liked Ty Lee. "I have a question to ask you." I turned to him and, seeing the look in his eyes was not sure what to expect. "What exactly were your feelings for Aang?" I looked at him in surprise.

"Well, when I first found him in the iceberg I liked him right away. I even started to see him as a little brother towards the end." I answered.

"And how did he feel about you?" Matoro asked.

"I, I'm not sure." I started. "I mean, there was that fortune that I got that I would marry a powerful bender, and I think he thought it might be him. But I guess that it isn't, or he would still be alive." Remembering his death I started to tear up, Matoro looked sadly at me and then stood.

"I will make sure that his life was not a waste. I will save this world! I swear it on my honor and on my life. Mata Nui help me if I fail." I looked at Matoro in surprise, he had never met Aang, and yet here he was swearing on everything he had that he would save the world that Aang had left behind. My eyes softened as I looked at him. I saw a boy who had lived a long time and had seen things that would probably make my blood boil. He had never thought much of himself, and yet he had already saved one world. I stood up next to him and impulsively took his hand in mine. He looked at me in surprise, and then he smiled. Not the little shy smiles he gave Ty Lee, it was a full on smile. I leaned in close to him and looked him in the eyes.

"We'll do it together." His smile widened and I saw something in his eyes that I had never seen there before, relief.

"With the two of us working together what could possibly stand against us?" he grinned at me. We stood there for several more seconds before I heard Sokka calling for me.

"We had better get back, Sokka is missing me."

"Yes, let's go back to camp." He smiled. I then took a risk, I knew that what Ty Lee had done had hurt him, and I did not want to do that, but I couldn't hold myself back. I quickly shot up and gave him a light kiss on his cheek before running off towards the camp blushing. I looked back once, Matoro was staring off into space, but he looked happy. His hand was on his cheek and he was smiling. I smiled as well as I ran back to my brother and friends, knowing that together we could face anything.

…

Aang ruefully looked at Matoro from the spirit world, he really envied the toa. Aang would give anything to have Katara with him for all eternity. Lhikan walked up and Aang turned to him smiling. His smile went away when he saw the look on Lhikan's face.

"What's wrong?" the Avatar asked.

"We have a problem, a very powerful force of evil just escaped into your world from mine, a Makuta. Matoro can handle Ozai and Azula. But a Makuta is out of his league." Aang looked back worriedly. He knew that anyone close to Matoro would be likely to get hurt, and that meant Katara was in danger. With a frown he turned to Lhikan.

"I am going to activate the Spirit Gate." Aang stated. Lhikan shook his head at the idea.

"No Aang, you can't go back into that world. You have died there just as Matoro died in my world."

"But I have to protect Katara!" Aang started.

"Haven't you realized that she has feelings for someone else?" Aang looked away angrily. He might not be able to save Katara in that world. But he could get her to come here, and be with him forever, literally. With a sudden movement Aang sent large vines of stone wrapping around Lhikan. He smiled as the toa struggled.

"You forget toa, this is my spirit world. Here your power is diminished while mine is greater than any you know."

"Traitor! Why would you do this?" Lhikan yelled. Aang smiled at him sadly.

"I like you Lhikan, I really do. But you don't understand love."

"Fool!" Lhikan replied. "I understand love better than you ever will. Have you ever watched as your closest friend and your secret love fell away from the light? Have you had to take her down after she killed not one but three innocents? Have you even been denied the joy of sharing the afterlife with her because she will never return to good?" Lhikan was almost in tears as he struggled with his bonds. "I helped you; if I had not sent Matoro then no one would have come! Your world would fall! And now you will turn against me and doom your world just because your secret crush has found someone else!" Lhikan drew all of his power inside and erupted in flames. The bonds of stone crumbled under his massive flame blast. Aang fell back as Lhikan's swords trapped him against a tree.

"Get back toa! I will never let Katara go!" Aang yelled. "The last time I gave her up I died!" Lhikan leaned in close so that Aang could feel the heat coming off his mask.

"You made a mistake Aang; you got Matoro involved. Now this world is as much as a concern to me as my own. I will let you go for now, it's not like I could defeat you here anyway, but I will be back. And when I come back I will bring help." With that the toa of fire threw Aang into the swamp. "Make no mistake Avatar, she will choose Matoro over you. It is time you realized that. She has moved on, why can't you? You're the one who's dead after all." With those parting words Lhikan combined his swords into a lava board and flew away. Aang rubbed his neck. Just who did that toa think he was? Aang swore that he would never let Katara stay with Matoro. He would find a way back to her, no matter who stood in his way, and no matter who he had to ally himself with. No matter what! The Avatar heard a snicker off to the side and turned to face whoever had laughed. It was a familiar person; Aang gasped in shook as he got a good look.

"Zhao! What are you doing here?"

"The same thing as you, wondering what a machine is doing getting involved with our world." Aang knew he had to be careful, Zhao was a dangerous manipulator.

"What do you want?"

"Why to help you of course!" Zhao answered with a smile. "I've no hard feelings about my death and your involvement in it, and since I died I took a good long think about who I was when I was alive. I am happy to tell you that I repented my old ways. I was truly foolish to try to kill the moon, and I am truly sorry for causing you and your friends all that trouble while I was alive." Aang thought about what Zhao was saying. It was true that many things were revealed to the dead that the living never knew. Perhaps he was telling the truth.

"But how can you help me?" Aang asked. Zhao smiled and walked closer.

"I know how to get back into the real world, and how to stay there, alive." Aang looked at him carefully.

"How?" Zhao smiled at the Avatar's question.

"Come with me, I'll show you."

…

Matoro and Katara get back to camp a little bit later than Sokka would have liked. It didn't help his older brother instinct that they both seemed incapable of looking at each other without blushing. Ty Lee refused to look at either of them at all. Zuko was just glad that Katara was too distracted to try to kill him. Iroh smiled to himself at the sight of Matoro and Katara staying as far away as possible yet clearly wanting to be closer. He remembered when he had been like that, a long time ago. Just then the fire seemed to explode. When it cleared it had taken the form of Aang. The Avatar frowned at the sight of Matoro standing in front of Katara and began to speak.

"I have learned that there is a much greater threat to this world than Ozi. I am also unable to tell you in this form. You must come to the Spirit Gate and talk to me directly."

"But where is this Spirit Gate?" asked Matoro, still holding his protective stance in front of Katara.

"Look at the beginning, for the world to be saved you must go full circle." With that the fire shot out at Matoro, it stopped inches in front of his face before disappearing altogether.

…

Aang turned to Zhao.

"So you think they'll take the bait?"

"Oh, they will. Now, let's go recruit a good friend of yours just to be sure that this plan works" Aang nodded. No matter what, he would be with Katara. No toa of ice was going to stop him now.

…

Sokka

I frowned at Matoro suspiciously.

"And just how did you suddenly get all the way across camp, in front of my sister?" He looked at the ground and blushed.

"I… I don't know. I just saw the fire and moved, I guess that it was a coincidence that Katara was standing where I stopped." I sneered at him, I knew better than that. From behind him Katara glared at me.

"I don't see why you're getting on Matoro Sokka. It's not like you jumped in front of me, you were too busy protecting Suki!" I looked behind me and saw Suki. She smiled at me and winked. I turned around and looked at Matoro with a slightly calmer demeanor about me.

"Well, thanks for protecting Katara. But I've got my eyes on you mister ice toa!" With that I turned around and walked off to do some fishing. I heard Katara laugh and the sound of someone following me. When I turned around to see who it was I was surprised to see Matoro. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I thought that you might need some help fishing." He smiled. "Suki said that your fishing skills left something to be desired." I grumbled at the thought of Suki laughing at me but said nothing to Matoro. He must have taken this to mean that he could stay because he followed me to the river and sat down next to me. We were both quiet for a minute before he began to talk. "I understand your desire to protect Katara, believe me I do, and I think she is very lucky to have someone like you looking out for her." I looked at him in surprise; this was not what I had expected to hear from him.

"What's this all about?" I said, wondering what he was up to.

"I just don't want you thinking that I'm a threat to Katara." He said while looking at the water. "I would do anything to protect her." I looked at him jokingly.

"I thought that you were trying to make me feel better. It sounds like you might have feelings for my sister." Matoro didn't laugh. "Oh, you do, but what about Ty Lee?"

"Ty Lee only thought I felt the way she wanted. I like her but, I don't love her. She wanted me for herself, and was willing to skip how I felt in the process." I nodded; Ty Lee was spoiled like that. I took a good long look at Matoro. I knew that he would not be the type to mess around with Katara, being from another world he might not even know how to mess with her. I finally shrugged; I could do worse for a brother in law.

"As far as I'm concerned you can tell her how you feel, but the person you really should be asking is my dad." Matoro looked up hopefully. "But if I'm ok with you then he will probably be the same."

"Great!" Matoro grinned, and then he frowned at me. "I have just one question."

"Yes?"

"How do I tell her?"

…

Solek

I looked out from my little hut on Spherus Magna. It was quiet, too quiet. I was glad that Makuta had been defeated and order returned to the universe, but I was so bored! I had nothing to do. I sighed and turned over. There were some times that I wished that I had been picked to be the toa of light. At least then I would be awesome like Kopaka. I looked up, expecting to see the wall as usual, what I saw made me fall out of my bed. I jumped to my feet and stared. Fearing that I was going insane I slapped myself, but he was still there. I couldn't believe it. I timidly looked up at one of my heroes.

"Toa Lhikan? Is it really you?"

"Yes Solek, it is really me." I couldn't believe it. The great hero of Metru Nui was visiting me, ME!

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh I am your biggest fan you are so awesome I can't believe this is really happening to me this is so awesome Icould faint but then I wouldn't be able to talk to you could I have your atograph?" The words just came out of my mouth in a jumble until Lhikan put up his hand and covered my mouth.

"Solek, listen. I came here for a reason. I need you to come with me and help me save another world. It has need of someone who can control light." I felt like fainting. The great toa Lhikan was asking me for help! He continued, "I must warn you, if you travel to this other world you can never come back." This sobered me down. This world was boring but it was the only world I knew. I thought about it for a second and then answered him.

"Toa Lhikan, sir, I am grateful that you warned me, but I still want to go. I can't just let a world fall because I want to be secure." Lhikan smiled at me.

"Spoken like a true toa." I smiled at that thought. But it also had me thinking.

"Um, I am a Matoran, how can I save an entire world?"

"In this other world there is no difference and your powers will be fully realized. Also, you won't be alone; you will be helping toa Matoro." Now this really almost made me faint.

"But, he died!" Lhikan smiled

"In this world he did, but I sent his spirit to another world." I nodded; with as awesome as Lhikan was it made sense that he would be able to do that. He smiled at me. "Are you ready, little one?" I smiled and nodded. With a swirl of energy I felt myself leaving my home world. I would miss it, but with any luck the next world would have a lot more action in it. And I would finally help save a world.

…

Azula

I looked approvingly at the team that Mai had assembled. Besides Mai there was a large man with a metal arm and leg who many of my troops referred to as combustion man. Another member was called Hunter and was surrounded by six large wolf-bats. He was considered to be one of the best trackers in the fire nation. There were also the twins. Their names were Flare and Flash but they looked so much alike that they were just called the twins; they were expert firebenders who almost exclusively used lightning. I nodded at Mai before speaking.

"Very nice, I approve. But I also have two additions of my own." I brought my hands up and the first of my additions walked into the light. His name was Golem. He was a member of the Dai-Lee who was covered in armor made from the earth itself. His earthbending was unmatched among all the Dai-Lee. Mai nodded and looked at me.

"Who is the second?" she asked. I waved my other hand and a figure walked out of the shadows. At the shocked gasps of the guards I smiled.

"I would like to introduce the fire nations answer to the Blue Spirit. The Spirit of Flame!" he was of average height and covered entirely in black. His face was hidden by a large red fire demon mask. He was also wearing red armor to match. He carried twin blades that hooked at the top and had a sharp extension where a pommel stone usually was. Mai nodded to his mask.

"Who is he?" I smiled

"The Dai-Lee found him in their old base while they were evacuating. He had received a near-lethal blow to his neck. They nursed him back to health and brainwashed him into obeying their every command and, by extension, mine." I patted his shoulder. "He will be little help in tracking your enemy, but he will help in the fight that must happen between you and my brother." Mai nodded and directed her team to begin towards the boat." I smiled. With my new ally this plan would never fail. And now there were just a few weeks till the day of black sun. Soon, very soon, the fire nation would be mine!

* * *

Author's note: For those of you who have no idea who Solek is he is the Av-Matoran who worked with Kopaka in the Phantoka storyline. I saw him as the only true Bionicle geek (because he knew everything about the toa, even more they they themselves knew) I needed someone who could control light and he fit the bill. Can anyone guess who the Spirit of Fire is? Please Review (keep in mind this is my first Fanfiction) Thanks!


	7. The calm before the storm

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 6

The calm before the storm

Suki

I decided to follow Sokka and Matoro after a few minutes. If they were talking about what I thought they were talking about then a woman's point of view might come in handy. Sure enough, I walked up behind them just in time to hear Matoro ask Sokka for advice. I grinned; Matoro had a lot to learn.

"Well to start off you must be aloof, act as if you don't care one way or the other." I groaned aloud, was Sokka still handing out that old idea, it never worked. It certainly confused Matoro.

"But I DO care which way it goes and what she thinks of me, why should I lie to her?" Sokka shook his head at the confused toa.

"You're not lying to her, you're putting on an act. It will make her like you more, trust me, I know a lot about women."

"Is that so?" I said as I walked out and sat next to Sokka. I had decided that I had let this play out long enough.

"Suki! I, uh, what I meant was I am learning a lot about women, from you of course!" Sokka stuttered. I fluttered my eyelashes at him and turned to Matoro grinning.

"If you want Katara to know how you feel just tell her. She probably feels the same way and is just waiting for you to make the first move." Matoro nodded and blushed.

"That would explain her kissing me on the cheek."

"Wait… WHAT?" Sokka jumped up in surprise. "My little sister kissed you?" Matoro backed off slightly.

"Just on the cheek! And it was entirely her; I did nothing to make it happen!"

"Well, I doubt that." I smiled. "But at least you now know her feelings. Now, if we could just get you two some alone time." Sokka looked at me in horror.

"Are you actually conspiring to get my sister alone with a guy?" he practically yelled.

"Yes Sokka."

"But, but, why?" he stuttered

"Oh, come off it Sokka. Katara is not a little girl anymore, and she is more than capable of protecting herself. And how can you be against getting those two alone after all the alone time you've had with me?" Sokka winced when I said that. "Plus it's not like I'm trying to get her and Zuko together." At that thought both Matoro and Sokka shuddered. Sokka sighed and looked at Matoro.

"Just promise that you'll talk to my dad before you get too involved with her." Matoro nodded.

"On my honor as a toa, I promise not to get too involved before speaking to your father." Matoro then frowned. "But I'm not sure what you're worrying about, I have no idea what 'getting too involved' looks like. So I'm sure you have nothing to worry about." Sokka nodded reluctantly. I grinned and grabbed both their arms.

"Well, now that that's over let's get back to camp and decide what to do next."

…

The three walked back to camp together, when they arrived Katara looked at them suspiciously.

"What took you guys so long?" Sokka and Matoro looked at the ground.

"We were just talking." Matoro started and then rapidly changed the topic. "So have we figured out where the spirit gate is yet?" Katara nodded.

"Aang said we needed to go full circle, I think that means we need to go back to the South Pole, where we started. Everyone nodded, it made sense. Then Sokka spoke up.

"We also need to meet with our dad; he'd be a lot of help if we plan to go against the fire nation." Matoro nodded, but for his own reasons as well.

"Does that mean we're splitting up?" asked Toph. Sokka nodded. "Then who is going where?"

"I think that Matoro should go to the South Pole, and take Katara with him." Iroh started. Sokka started to interject when Suki covered his mouth.

"That's a great idea! Matoro has the most experience with the spirit world and Katara knows the South Pole better than anyone besides Sokka, who should go to meet his dad. The rest of us can go with Sokka and take the long way by boat. That way Matoro and the others can get to the South Pole faster on Appa." Iroh nodded at Suki and smiled, it was a good plan. He also sent a knowing wink at Sokka. Sokka sighed, it looked like his sister and Matoro would be getting their alone time after all. With the problem of who would go where solved the group started to pack up. After a good night's sleep they all prepared to head out. Katara hugged Sokka goodbye before climbing onto Appa. Sokka then pulled Matoro aside and whispered to him.

"Look, I'm putting my sister's safety and wellbeing in your hands Matoro. You have to keep her safe or there will be consequences."

"Don't worry Sokka, I'll look after her. You can count on that." With that Matoro jumped up next to Katara. Sokka shook his head and turned to Momo.

"Momo, I'm putting you in charge of those two. If things get a little too far along then stop it before it gets out of hand." Momo saluted and flew over so that he was sitting on Katara's shoulder. Sokka looked up and waved as they flew off. He sighed; his little sister was growing up. In his heart he knew that Matoro would never hurt her, he was more worried what she would try with him.

…

Katara

I watched until I couldn't see Sokka anymore. I then turned and sighed. Matoro was sitting in front and expertly steering Appa.

"Where did you learn to fly a sky bison?" I asked.

"I flew a Gukko bird once; I figured that it's a similar concept and just slowed my motions down to compensate for his size" I was impressed.

"Wow, really?"

"No, not really, Appa's actually doing all the flying." I giggled as Matoro turned and smiled at me. "Although I have ridden a Gukko I was never very good at steering them. But Appa seems to know where he's going." I nodded; Appa had been to the South Pole before. I smiled at Matoro and decided to find something out.

"Hey, if he's flying why don't you come back here?" Matoro looked at me in surprise. There was a suspicious look in his eyes and I suspected that he was going to stay where he was when he nodded and carefully climbed back and sat next to me.

"So," he started. "Nice view up here isn't it?"

"Yeah." We both looked away, unsure of what the other was thinking. I decided to just to go for it and turned to talk to him. Unfortunately he had apparently decided the same thing. We stopped with our faces just inches from each other. I stared into his eyes, they were blue. I felt like I could stay this forever, just looking into his eyes. He slowly looked away and glanced down at his feet. "What's wrong?"

"I promised Sokka something before we left." He answered, still looking down.

"What, what did you promise?" I said leaning in closer.

"Nothing, I just promised to protect you, that's all."

"Really?" I asked. "Then why do I feel like you're leaving something out?" What exactly did you promise him?" Matoro sighed in resignation and turned to face me.

"I promised that I wouldn't let anything progress too far between us before talking to your dad." I was shocked; they had been talking about that! But that meant that, no, it was took crazy. Was it even possible that Matoro could love me? That he would want to marry me? Matoro looked at me in frustration. "But I have no idea how far is too far! I want to do the right thing and treat you like you should be treated. But I've never been a human so how am I supposed to know what is considered 'too far'? The only one I can ask is you, because Appa and Momo are clueless in this respect. And yet if I ask you I might let it slip just how much I…" He stopped and a horrified look came over his face. "I, I really just said all that didn't I?"

"Yeah." I answered. "You pretty much just confessed to loving me." I smiled at him. "Is that so bad?"

"Well it certainly solves the problem of how to tell you." He smiled ruefully, but then frowned at me. "But I am supposed to save the world, what if you get hurt because the fire lord comes after me, I don't want that to happen. I, I don't think I could live though that happening." I looked deep in his eyes as I leaned in closer. I saw that he really cared, I liked that. He wasn't trying to protect me because he thought I was weak; he really loved me and would do anything to keep me safe. And that was conflicting with his desire to save the world, all because he loved me.

"Didn't you say that together we would be unstoppable?" He nodded and I leaned in closer. "Then what are you worrying about?" Matoro tried to scoot away but only managed to fall on his back and, because I was holding his arm, accidentally pulled me on top of him. I smiled as our eyes met. "Anytime you think this is going to far feel free to stop me." With that I kissed him, not a quick kiss either, a long, passionate kiss. I wrapped my arms around him and poured all that I had into that one kiss. When I finally broke for air I smiled at Matoro. "Well? Had enough yet? Or have I taken it too far?"

"You, know what they say, ignorance is bliss." He smiled

"True, very true, perhaps we're better off not knowing." With that I kissed him again. "You know I love you, right?"

"If I had any doubts about that now then I would be the biggest fool in the whole of both of our universes." Matoro laughed, and then he looked me deep in my eyes. "And you know that I love you, don't you."

"Yes, I know." With that I resumed kissing him. I knew that Sokka would gag if he saw me acting like this, but he did it with Suki all the time. Plus, for the first time since Aang had died I was truly happy. I knew Matoro loved me, and that was all I needed.

…

Appa felt movement on his back and looked at Momo who was flying nearby.

"Um, aren't you supposed to stop that?"

"Sokka said to keep it from going too far. I take that to mean that they shouldn't get too close." The sky bison looked at his little friend.

"She's on top of him and they're kissing. How much closer can they get?" Momo smiled as he landed on Appa's head.

"Oh, they could get a lot closer. Plus, I figure that anything Sokka does with Suki is within the ok zone." Appa nodded in agreement.

"Good point, I guess that Sokka kisses Suki all the time doesn't he?"

"Oh yeah, all the time." Momo took a quick glance at the two humans under his care and sat back down. "Plus, they've got some hard times ahead, what's wrong with them having a little alone time?" Appa looked at Momo in disappointment.

"I thought we agreed that we wouldn't mention the script! Since Matoro can understand you he could find out that we know what's going to happen next!"

"Do you really think he's listening? And whose idea was it to read ahead in the script book anyway?"

"Good point. Just be more careful, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be careful." The two friends continued to chat with each other as they flew south. If ether they or the humans had been paying attention to the water below they would have seen a fire nation ship, a very special fire nation ship, was passing underneath them.

…

Mai

I looked up and saw the Avatar's bison flying south. Hunter came up on deck and looked at me.

"Should we follow the bison my lady?"

"No." I answered. "Since the Avatar is dead there is no reason to believe that Zuko is following it. But we should see if we can find its starting point, it's as good of a place to start as any." He nodded and walked to the captain's cabin. I gripped the rail in anticipation. Soon we would have news of Zuko, and the hunt would begin. I looked over to see the Spirit of Flame staring at the bison. The Spirit had yet to say a single word. He obeyed orders without question and never asked for help. He had not taken interest in anything before the bison's appearance. I frowned, Azula had said that he had been brainwashed. What if the bison was part of his memories? I looked at him, who was under that mask?

…

Aang slammed his fist into a nearby tree. How could she? How could Katara love someone else? The only explanation was that she was so sad from losing him she was confused. There was no other explanation, she couldn't have moved on! It was impossible! Zhao looked over his shoulder at the scene.

"Looks like we had better hurry, we don't want that little friend of yours getting along too well without you."

"Who are we going to get to help us?" Aang yelled.

"You know him well; his name is Ko, the face stealer." Aang turned to Zhao to be sure that he was serious.

"What? How can he help us?"

"When he steals the face of someone their soul is taken as well, but their body remains intact, and ripe for the picking." At Aang's gasp of horror Zhao turned to him. "Didn't you say that you would do anything to be with your little waterbender?" Aang looked at the ground.

"Yes, let's do this!" The two unlikely allies continued through the swamp towards their destination, the home of one of the most dangerous spirits in the universe.

…

Azula

I smiled to myself as I walked to my room after a long bath. It had been a good week. I had just gotten news that my plan to eliminate my father was in motion, and with Mai on her quest for vengeance soon my brother would be dead as well. I locked the door behind me and walked over to my vanity. I sat down in front of the mirror and started brushing my hair. Suddenly I noticed that I was not alone. A figure was standing behind the curtains, a male figure. I smiled to myself at his foolishness, just who did he think he was dealing with?

"It's impolite to hide when addressing a princess, show yourself" I commanded. The figure laughed and stepped out of the shadows. It had a human shape and futures but it was definitely not human. He was about father's height with midnight black skin and hair and blood red eyes. When he smiled his unnaturally white teeth looked out of place among all the blackness.

"My apologies princess, I did not wish to anger you. It's just that it's so hard to get a royal hearing without too many people becoming involved." His voice made me shudder; it was deep, and raspy. Whoever he was he had better have a good reason for breaking in like this.

"What do you want? And for that matter, who are you?"

"My name is Mutran… and I have an offer that I think you might want to hear." I quickly perked up; if this creature was coming to offer me something then perhaps it would be worth my while to listen. "I know of your plan to take out your father and brother and rule the fire nation, nice job by the way, making his own girlfriend hunt him down, wonderfully ironic." I frowned, how did he know all this. He continued, "I also know that there is a resistance building among the council due to the fact that they want a fire LORD, not a fire Lady."

"I knew it! Selfish old buffoons! Just who do they think their dealing with?" Mutran smiled at my outburst.

"Ah, but I can help you. You see, I am a scientist of sorts. I have a ton of technology that this world has never seen. Weapons that would make that little fleet of airships you have look like a child's playthings." I was both interested and shocked. Did this creature know all of the fire nation's secrets?

"What do you want in exchange for all of this?" I asked.

"Ah, glad you got to that. I want an unlimited supply of, test subjects. I am sure that your prisons could provide me with those needed, as well as some of your more powerful enemies, like your father for instance. I would love to get him under the knife and have a look at what makes him tick." I grinned evilly.

"That might be possible to arrange, if this technology is worth it to me."

"Oh, don't worry, it is." He smiled.

…

And so began an alliance, Mutran had to laugh to himself at how easy it was. After Azula had seen what he had brought and what it was capable of she jumped at the chance that he could make more. He was given his own lab under the palace and even Dai-Lee to order around. Mutran had no illusions of why they were there; they were loyal only to Azula and wouldn't hesitate to try to take him out. As if they could, a fully realized Makuta was a little out of anyone's league. Mutran smiled to himself as he began working on an adaption of the Midak Skyblasters that he had seen the toa carrying back in his home world. He would play nice, for now, he would even help the little girl win her war. But then, he would take over. He could have done it right away but it was more fun to lead all of his enemies in circles before destroying them all. Mutran smile just kept getting bigger as he worked. Being evil was so much fun!

* * *

Author's note: So that's what Mutran had been up to for the last few chapters. And yes, I really just had Appa and Momo break the forth wall. And for those of you reading this hoping that with Aang out of the way Zuko and Katara would finally be together... sorry, not going to happen (Although I'm a Zutara myself). And just in case you are wondering, no, I do not hate Aang. Please review (keep in mind this is my first fanfiction) Thanks!


	8. The Spirit Gate opens

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 7

The Spirit Gate opens

Matoro

We had been flying for a few days now; I sat at the front of the saddle and watched as the amount of ice in the water gradually increased. I took a peek behind me at Katara, she was still sleeping. I smiled to myself; the past three days had been some of the best days of my entire life. I had found out that Katara loved me. We had spent the past few days getting to know each other, I told tales of my world and she told some from hers. We then talked about our lives, where we grew up, what we had wanted to do with our lives before the mantle of hero was ever placed on our shoulders. At her request I had told her about my death, the sacrifice that I had made to save a world. And at my request she had told me about her parents. I had even, in a very roundabout way, gotten her to talk about her parents' marriage. She had been full of details and blissfully unaware that I was secretly taking notes. I smiled to myself; Katara would have been surprised indeed if she had known that all this talk of her parents' courtship and marriage was helping me plan my relationship with her. Over on the horizon I could see a city. I called back to Katara to tell her.

"I think we're getting close. You might want to wake up." I heard a yawn behind me and in a few seconds Katara had climbed next to me.

"Good morning Matoro." She smiled as she took my hand.

"Good morning sleepyhead." I grinned in return. "I think I would be correct in assuming that we found your village." Katara nodded and smiled.

"And it looks like Pakku has been busy." I nodded in wonder. From what she had told me about her little village I had expected it to be much smaller. But now there was evidence of a huge restoration project in progress. A large sea wall had been built and even now guards were patrolling the wall. As we drew closer they barely gave us a glance, I guess that even with the Avatar dead his friends would be welcome to visit their home village. We landed in a large courtyard surrounded by homes that were a far cry from the little huts that Katara had described. As soon as Katara slid down off Appa's back she ran over and hugged an older woman.

"Gran-gran!" she happily yelled as the two embraced. I smiled as I jumped to the ground. It must be nice to be a part of a family. After the two finished their hug an old man walked over and nodded to Katara. He looked stern but there was a pleased smile on his face.

"Ah, Katara, so good to see you." Katara bowed to the older man in return.

"It's good to see you as well, Master Pakku." The old man's smile grew larger.

"That was an appropriate greeting for a master… but how about a hug for your new grandfather?" Katara gasped in surprise, but then smiled and gave him a big hug.

"So you and Gran-gran got back together? That is some of the best news I have heard in a long time." The three looked so happy together that I couldn't help but be envious; I had never had a family. Pakku finished greeting his new granddaughter and turned to me.

"Now, Katara, aren't you going to introduce this strapping young lad that you've brought with you?" Katara blushed slightly and turned to me.

"Gran-gran, Pakku, this is Matoro. After the Avatar died he was sent to save us from another world." I bowed to them.

"It is a pleasure to meet you both, Katara has told me a lot about both of you." Pakku smiled and nodded.

"So you're the one who is supposed to save the universe? I hope you don't mind if I say you don't look like much."

"Not at all, I've always been a bit on the unimpressive side. I find it helps my enemies to underestimate me in battle." The old man nodded.

"You don't mind if I test you do you? Just so I can put my old mind to rest about the state of the world."

"Oh, course not." The words were barely out of my mouth before he had sent a large swarm of deadly icesickles at me.

…

Sokka

I was in a dilemma. It had been three days since Katara left with Matoro for the South Pole. And I was beginning to have second thoughts about letting her go so easily.

"The only thing standing between her and Matoro is Momo." I complained to Suki. "What if Momo falls asleep? Who's going to watch those two then?"

"Sokka, you need to relax. Matoro and Katara are two mature adults who know how to act. Nothing is going to happen." Even with Suki's assurances I felt worried. Suddenly Toph stopped and looked around.

"Someone is coming; actually, a lot of someones are coming!" We had all learned that Toph's senses were to be completely trusted in this matter. We quickly took a defensive position and prepared. It was quiet for a second before six wolf-bats burst through the brush and surrounded us. These were followed by seven figures. Zuko looked shocked when he saw who was leading them.

"Mai! What are you doing here?"

"Finishing you off you traitor!" She then turned to the rest of us. "I have no quarrel with you, leave Zuko and Ty Lee and I will allow you to continue on your way. Suki and Toph looked at me. Leave Zuko, yeah, I could do that, but not Iroh. Iroh had helped us several times when we were fighting the fire nation and I would never leave the old tea loving firebender alone against these guys, and he would never leave Zuko.

"Sorry lady, I've got no feelings for Zuko but his uncle is a good friend of mine." I said, readying my boomerang, "So I think that you're going to have to go though us to get to him!"

"Fools." She whispered. With that last comment the attackers charged us.

…

Katara

I sighed and rolled my eyes as Pakku attacked Matoro. I knew how this was going to turn out, and I was right. With one movement Matoro had stopped the ice flying at his face and had frozen a walkway over them. He then launched himself at Pakku and drew his sword. Gran-gran and I looked at each other. Gran-gran sighed and smiled at me.

"I guess that boys will be boys" I nodded in agreement as Pakku dodged Matoro's attack and sent a wave of water at him. Matoro easily froze it and smashed it with his sword. But Pakku had expected that. He sent another wave right after the first and froze Matoro in it.

"Ha, I guess that he wasn't all he was cracked up to be after all, was he." Pakku smiled as he turned around to face us, but he turned around again at the sound of shattering ice. Matoro had broken out, and was floating in the air. I looked at him in shock; even I hadn't seen him like this. His eyes had misted over so that they were just white balls of energy and his hands glowed with lightning that swirled around in a frenzy of power.

"ENOUGH!" he yelled as he created thousands of ice spears and charged them with lightning. He then sent them spinning at Pakku, only to stop them inches from the old man's face. They hovered there for a second before he melted them and landed back on the ground. Matoro smiled, "Does that answer your questions?" Pakku was stunned and didn't answer. Matoro turned to Gran-gran and bowed. "I apologize; I seem to have frozen your husband in shock."

"Oh, don't worry about it. He's needed someone to do that to him for at least forty years. Why don't you and Katara come inside and we can get you some warmer clothing." Matoro smile at her and continued.

"That would be nice but I don't think that I'll need them. You see, for some reason my body is always at the same temperature so I never get cold."

"Really, that's interesting. Well, Katara will need some anyway and I am sure that you wouldn't be against having a hot drink." I smiled as they walked over to a house chatting. I knew those two would get along. I turned to Pakku and grinned at his open mouthed shock. Yes, Matoro would fit into this family just fine. Later, after Pakku had recovered and heard the story of how Matoro had come to this world he took him on a tour of the city. I stayed behind to help Gran-gran around the house. She smiled at me and winked.

"So, has he asked you yet?"

"I, I don't know what you're talking about Gran-gran." I blushed.

"Oh, don't pretend like you don't know. That Matoro's got his eye on you, I would be surprised if the only reason he hasn't asked for your hand yet is because he hasn't talked to your father about it." My blush got worse as I thought about it. It made sense; he had been asking a lot of questions about my parents' marriage and water tribe customs involving weddings. I had just assumed that he was trying to find out more about this world. I looked out the window to where I could see him and Pakku surveying the wall. I sighed to myself, if Matoro did ask; I knew what my answer would be.

…

Matoro

"So, when are you going to propose to Katara?" I jumped in shock; Pakku had been showing me the work that he and the other waterbenders had been doing. Why did he change the subject?

"Wait? How do you know about that?" I asked

"Oh please, give an old man some credit. I'm not blind." I smiled ruefully.

"So, you don't mind?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"That, my young friend, is a question for her father. But I personally think it is a great idea. Katara has been alone for far too long now. So, now that that's out of the way, when where you planning on proposing?

"I, uh, I hadn't really decided when to do it." I stuttered. "I guess that I have to talk to her father first, don't I." Pakku smiled at my discomfort.

"Well yes, traditionally that is what is done. And it's good of you to want to keep to tradition. But I wondered if you had made a betrothal necklace for her yet."

"Well, actually, I have." I blushed as I brought the necklace out of my bag. Pakku looked at it approvingly.

"Very nice… where did you find the stone?"

"It was originally in the pommel of my sword, it took me hours to get it out without her noticing." I said looking at the little rock that Lhikan had set in my sword. It was actually not a stone but crystalline protodermis from my home world. Pakku looked at it and frowned.

"It's missing something, why haven't you carved it yet?"

"I didn't know what to carve." I explained "I thought about the Nuva symbol for ice but I figured that wasn't special enough." Pakku nodded. He took a long look at it and then smiled.

"I think that I know what she would like."

"Really, what?" I asked excitedly

"I think she would love it if it looked just like her mother's." I nodded, that made sense. I looked at the stone.

"Well, here it goes." With that I concentrated my entire being and all my power on the stone. Light flew from my hands onto the stone. With a great push of energy I managed to create the design on the stone. I then collapsed, gasping for breath. Pakku grabbed me and tried to help me stand up.

"Matoro, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'll live." I said, still looking at the stone in my hands. "Crystalline protodermis is very hard to mark, much less carve."

"Well? How did you do?" he asked. I showed him the necklace. I had not scratched the surface but had somehow inscribed the design inside the stone itself. I stared at it, it was beautiful.

"Now that is a betrothal necklace!" Pakku exclaimed upon seeing it "I am sure that she will be very happy to see it." He frowned as I still was having a hard time getting up. "Are you all right son?"

"Yeah, I'll be ok. Just give me some time to…" but I fainted. The last thing I remembered before collapsing was thinking how was I going to hide the necklace from Katara if I was asleep, and then, darkness.

…

The attack was swift and brutal. The large earthbender tried to pin Toph but was launched into a grove of trees by the diminutive earthbender's power. Sokka quickly was attacked by the man controlling the wolf-bats and was hard pressed to avoid the twin daggers of his opponent. Iroh and Suki had their work cut out for them fighting the twin firebenders who shot bolt after bolt of lightning at them. Mai attacked Ty Lee with a ferocity that scared the acrobat.

"Mai, why are you doing this? I thought we were best friends?" Ty Lee yelled while dodging the daggers thrown by the other girl.

"We were, but friends don't cheat off friends." Yelled Mai as she ran in with her close range weapons to try to shred Ty Lee, when Zuko tried to get in the way a strange warrior stopped him. Zuko was shocked; this warrior looked like a fire nation version of the Blue Spirit. They both drew their swords and clashed. Zuko had the strangest feeling that he had fought this person before. The sounds of battle grew louder as the wolf-bats joined in the fray. All looked lost when suddenly a group of water tribe warriors climbed over the hill and attacked. Sokka whooped in joy, his dad had come to help.

…

Katara

When Pakku helped carry Matoro in I thought I would faint right next to him. But I managed to stay awake purely because I wanted to help him. We carried Matoro into a back room and I got to work. Pakku wouldn't say what Matoro had done that had caused him to faint but while healing him I could tell that he had existed himself to near death. I resolved that once he woke up I would have a long talk with him about staying safe. I continued to watch him throughout the night. In the morning he woke up.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE MOON SPIRIT, and I happen to know the name of the moon spirit, DID YOU DO TO YOURSELF?" I yelled at him as soon as his eyes had opened.

"I, uh, I, don't remember?" He said weakly.

"Yeah right, and next I bet you're going to tell me that Momo had Appa sit on you." I snarled at him.

"Why would I tell you that?" He looked at me in confusion.

"No reason, it's just that, when you were brought in you looked like Aang when he, when he died." I started to sob. Matoro reached up and brushed my hair. I held his hand as I calmed down.

"I am so sorry Katara, it was an accident. I thought I could do something that turned out to be a little out of my league. I never intended to scare you." I held his hand close as I continued crying.

"It's just that, I don't want to lose you." Matoro's eyes grew hard.

"You won't. I promise you that if I can at all avoid my death then I will do so." I smiled at him; at least he had been honest with me. I still didn't know what he had been doing but at least he had apologized for it. He would tell me when he was ready. Suddenly Pakku ran into the room. Matoro smiled and winked at me as he greeted the old master.

"Hey Pakku, sorry for giving you a scare back there, it was an accident."

"That's not important now!" Pakku practically yelled "We found that Spirit Gate you were looking for! It suddenly appeared just south of the village" Suddenly Matoro was all business. He quickly sat up and ran out of the room. I quickly followed; there was no way I was going to lose him again! We ran out of the village to a small hill. At the bottom of the hill a large gateway had appeared. Matoro turned to me and nodded to the large structure.

"That wasn't there before was it?" I shook my head; I had never seen it before. Matoro started walking down towards it. I followed behind hesitantly.

"I don't know Matoro; we don't know what could be waiting for us on the other side." He just turned and winked at me.

"Nothing the two of us and a waterbending master can't handle right?" He smiled and continued down. Suddenly a monstrous figure came out of the gate. I recognized it from Aang's description; it was Ko, the face stealer.

"Wait! Matoro come back!" I yelled "That creature can steal your face if you show any emotion at all!" Matoro turned and looked at me.

"Really, I should be fine then." I was shocked.

"What are you talking about?" He smiled as he drew his sword.

"I never got to tell you that there is one thing that all toa of ice are really good at doing…"

"What's that?" I asked.

"Keeping a straight face under any circumstances." With that he took a deep breath and his face became as stoic as possible. He then jumped at Ko. I had to stare in awe; Matoro was challenging a spirit so powerful it killed a past Avatar. I was barely aware of Appa and Momo coming up behind me. I suddenly felt cold, even though I was wearing warm robes. Darkness seemed to explode out of the spirit gate and swallow the entire area. And then the last person I thought I would ever see again was standing in front of me. I slowly shrunk back, this shouldn't be possible! The person smiled at me and extended his hand and smiled.

"Hello Katara, it's been a long time." I couldn't believe it, but there was no other explanation. I still held myself back as I answered.

"Hello, Aang."

* * *

Author's note: Well that should set up the next chapter nicely. Anyone else ready for possibly the funniest moment in this entire story? Then read on! Please review as well! Thanks!


	9. Katara's choice

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 8

Katara's choice

Matoro

I jumped at the creature that Katara had called Ko while keeping a straight face. I had learned from the best after all. If anyone could teach others how to be stoic it was Kopaka. The creature turned to face me. It grinned at me hungrily.

"Oh good, you came to me! I've never stolen the face of a person from another world before. I wonder what your soul will taste like." With that it shoved its face in front of me and changed it to some sort of monkey. It screeched in my face, undoubtedly trying to frighten me into changing my demeanor. All it did was bring him into striking range. With a swift stroke I sliced his face in half. Ko screeched in pain as he reared up on himself to try to get away from my blade. But all that did was expose his belly to me. I quickly charged my sword with lightning and stabbed him between two of his writhing legs. His screams shattered some of the nearby ice and almost deafened me. I quickly created two ice spikes and used them to bring his face down to my level.

"Stop yelling for a moment." I stated. "I'm trying to concentrate." With that I rammed the hilt of my sword into his face and knocked him out. I then turned to the sound of clapping. Behind me were two figures. One I recognized as the Avatar, the other was dressed in fire nation armor and had an evil smile on his face. The Avatar spoke to me first.

"Nicely done, I thought that no one could defeat Ko. However, your time as the savior of this world is over, I can take over again." I blinked in amazement, what was he talking about?

"Um, correct me if I am wrong but aren't you dead?" Suddenly Lhikan appeared next to me.

"He IS dead Matoro; however, he still tries to cheat that which cannot be defeated."

"You're wrong toa! All I need to come back is my body. Ko was one way to get it but if I have to take a body by force then I will!" I looked at him in shock; this was not the boy that Katara had told me about. Katara stared at her friend in horror.

"You mean, you would have used Ko to empty a body for you and then you would have taken it! Why Aang, why would you do such a thing?" The Avatar turned to her and smiled.

"I did it so that we could be together." He answered. "It was always our destiny, we were meant for each other." Katara backed up in shock, her eyes started to tear up.

"But Aang, you never said…"

"I never told you because I was too afraid. Now I am afraid of losing you, and I cannot allow that to happen." He then pointed at me. "Think Katara, can this… creature… truly love you as I do? Can it really make you happy? Can it really save a world that it doesn't belong to?"

"Hey! This 'creature' has a name." I yelled in frustration. But I could see his point, was I just kidding myself, could I ever really fit into this world? I looked down and turned to Lhikan. "Toa Lhikan, let me ask you something."

"What do you wish to know?" He replied. I looked up and directly into his eyes.

"Am I capable of saving this world?"

"Yes, Matoro, you are."

"Then I have just one more question… is he capable of saving it?" I said pointing to Aang. Lhikan looked at me sadly; he could see where I was going with this.

"Yes, he is this world's protector; he is technically capable of saving it." I nodded, that was all I needed to know. I turned to Katara, she looked scared, I hated to have to ask her this question, but I had to know.

"Katara, I need to know, who would you be happier with?" Katara's eyes started to tear up as she shook her head.

"No, Matoro don't ask me that question!"

"But I have to." I explained. "If you would rather have Aang then I will willingly let him take over my body and change it to fit his form." At this the Avatar grinned, I gave him an icy stare, another thing Kopaka taught me how to do. "However, if you would rather have me, then I will fight anyone or anything that tries to deny you what would make you happiest!" Katara was almost crying now.

"Why do I have to choose?" Katara sobbed. Lhikan turned to me, the look in his eyes asked if I was sure about this. I nodded; I would stand by what ever happened. Lhikan sighed and answered Katara's question.

"We are at a crossroads of destiny; both ways have potential for good and evil, some more than others." He glared at Aang. "But nevertheless, this world's fate must be decided by one of its members. You are that member." Katara dried up her eyes. She looked at the both of us.

"Can I ask both of you a question?" we nodded affirmative and she continued. "Aang, how much do you love me?" he seemed surprised at the question.

"Katara, I nearly gave up near ultimate power for you. And when I decided that I needed that power to save the world and left you in danger to get it I was killed. I would literally do anything, take any risk, and fight any foe to be with you!" She nodded to him; she was blushing heavily as she turned to me.

"Matoro, I want to know what made you collapse." The question surprised everyone there. Aang stared at her like she was going crazy. "I just want to know what would be worth almost dying for in your mind." I looked down and pulled the necklace I had made out of my bag. Everyone stared as I slowly explained.

"I was making a betrothal necklace for you. I had decided to make it out of crystalline protodermis. It's a substance that is so strong that not even a Makuta could break it. It takes six fully realized toa to shatter it. I used my power, all of it, to carve the symbol from your mother's necklace into it." I looked up at her, she was crying again. Tears fell slowly down her face as she looked into my eyes.

"Would it have been worth it?" She asked. I already knew the answer.

"Yes, it would have been worth it. I would have gladly given my life to make you happy." She nodded and looked at Pakku. The old man shook his head and smiled sadly.

"I can't help you Katara, this is your decision and yours alone." Lhikan sighed and spoke up.

"I should also say that if you were to choose Aang I could arrange it so that all of this never happened." We all stared at him. "I have access to the Mask of Time; I could make it so that you found a way to heal Aang after the lightning strike."

"So I and Matoro would never have met?" asked Katara, Lhikan nodded.

"Matoro would have never come to this world and would have continued to his eternal rest as we all do at some point." Katara turned to me.

"Matoro, this is your life we are talking about. What do you want?" I smiled and answered truthfully.

"I want you to be happy." With that, Katara nodded.

"I have made my choice." She said as she turned and started to walk towards Aang.

…

Sokka smiled at his dad as they shared tales around the fire. Just a few short hours ago they had been fighting for their lives until Hakoda had found them and had helped drive off the attackers. It took some explaining to keep the water tribe chieftain from attacking Zuko and Iroh as well, but in the end it was all worked out. Hakoda stroked his beard as Sokka finished telling him what had happened in the past few weeks after the Avatar's death.

"And then, after we got the message from Aang, Matoro and Katara set off for the South Pole to find this 'Spirit Gate' that Aang mentioned. We came to find you and, here we are."

"That's very impressive Sokka, now I have a question to ask you. What exactly are Matoro's feelings for Katara?" Sokka looked around to make sure they were alone before answering.

"I think that he had strong feelings for her. He asked me for advice and I said to talk to you about it." Hakoda smiled at his son.

"Good work Sokka. How do you feel about him?" Sokka shrugged.

"I like him, and Katara apparently does as well. He's clean, polite, always thinks of others first, and never complains about orders. He'd be a better brother in-law then Zuko." At that idea both father and son shuddered in horror. Hakoda continued stroking his beard as he thought about what Sokka had said.

"He sounds like quite a young man. I would very much like to meet him." Sokka nodded.

"They're supposed to meet us here after they finish their little trip; I actually expect to see them in the next few days." Hakoda smiled.

"Well, we had better get ready then. I've never had to deal with a prospective son in law before. I wonder if I should wear a suit or my battle armor?" Father and son laughed long into the night. Unaware that they had been listened to, and that a very sad Ty Lee was slinking back to her tent. Why did things always turn out like this?

…

Azula looked in wonder at the gadgets that Mutran set before her.

"This is called a 'jet pack'" he said pointing to a contraption with short wings. "It can be powered by firebending and will allow your warriors to fly for limited distances."Azula nodded and pointed to a long device with two small engines strapped to it.

"And what is that?" Mutran smiled.

"That is a speeder bike, princess. It will allow quick travel over ground but not into the sky. It is also powered by firebending meaning that there is no need to stop and refuel, as is the case with your airships." Azula shook her head; this was all too much to take in. With the comet just a few months away and with these machines she could take over the world with only a hundred firebenders. She looked back into Mutran's workshop and saw a strange suit of armor. Azula pointed at it.

"And what is that, some new armor for the troops?" Mutran's smile got even larger.

"Actually, this was built with you in mind, princess."

"Me? But it's just armor, and I have armor already."

"Ah, but it is not just armor." Mutran smiled as he brought it into the light so that she could get a good look at it. "This is an exo-suit, one of my more impressive accomplishments. Once inside the armor boosts the strength, speed and durability of the wearer. It also allows for extended flight and can even survive a direct cannonball to the chest." Azula was impressed. "It will also run on your firebending, which will serve to power the suit and its weapon systems." Azula shook her head in wonder.

"I admit Mutran I thought you were kidding when you said that you had technology beyond my imagination, but I guess you were right! I want you to train a platoon of elite firebenders to use all this and any other equipment that you make. Can you have them ready by the time the comet arrives?"

"Without a doubt, they can be ready, as long as you provide some test subjects for some of my more, organic experiments." Azula nodded and walked out of Mutran's lab. Mutran inwardly grinned; this was going to be fun to watch. He always loved the look of surprise on an enemy's face when they realize that they were outmatched, and outgunned.

…

Katara

I turned towards Aang; I knew what I needed to do. As I walked towards him I read all of the faces I could see. Aang was grinning as if he had just won a prize at a carnival. Pakku was trying to avoid my eyes but I could see that he was sad that I had been forced to make such a choice. Zhao was also smiling, but his smile was full of evil intentions. Lhikan's face remained neutral. Lastly I glanced at Matoro, he was trying to hide his disappointment in a fake smile, but I could tell that he was sad. I finally stood in front of Aang. I reached my hand up and touched his face.

"I have made my choice." And with that, I smacked him so hard he fell to the ground. Everyone there winced at the sound of my hand hitting his cheek. I looked down at Aang as he rubbed his face numbly. "How could you put the entire universe at risk just so we could be together?" I yelled into his face. I then turned around and walked over to a very stunned Matoro. I took his arm and turned to face Aang. "I care for you Aang, I really do, but since Matoro came into my life I have found what true love means. Yes, it means that you would do anything to be with that person. But it also means that you would also give up that person if they would be happier with someone else, unless you're married of course." I gave Matoro a kiss before speaking to him. "I love you Matoro, although I am still going to yell at you for risking our time together to make a necklace, and I want to spend the rest of my life with no one else but you." Matoro looked me in the eyes; I could see that he was crying.

"I don't know what I did to deserve this; quite frankly I don't think I deserve you at all. But I do know that from the first moment I saw you I knew that I wanted to be with you for as much time as is possible." Aang stared at us in amazement. He then leapt to his feet and stuttered in shock.

"This, this shouldn't be possible! I was supposed to be with Katara, me! Not some idiot from another world who couldn't save his own world without dying in the process!" Aang was very close to tears. "Why won't you love me?" He yelled. Before any of us could answer a sliver light broke through the darkness. I looked up and saw Yue gliding down from the sky.

"Aang, we both have loved someone that it is impossible for us to be with." She started. "I loved Sokka, but I am also glad to see that he has gotten past my death and has found love in Suki. You and I have passed from the world that they now live in. It is no fault of theirs, nor is it a fault of ours. Our destiny's called us beyond the life that we once had." She smiled at Matoro. "And so did his." Aang looked as if he had been slapped again. He sat down and covered his face.

"I've been a fool!" Aang said as he looked up at me and Matoro. "Can the two of you ever forgive me?" I started to say something but Matoro interrupted.

"Aang, there is nothing to forgive, all you did wrong was stay true to your first love. I would have done the same. Possibly without the face stealing demon, but I still would have done the same." Yue smiled at him and walked over to Aang.

"Come on Avatar, it's time to set things right."

"Not if I can help it!" Yelled Zhao, in all the confusion we had forgotten about him. "I want a body and the body of a creature from another world will work as well as any!" With that he jumped at Matoro, but before we could do anything there was a flash of fur and Momo was sitting in front of us. I looked at Matoro in confusion.

"Did Zhao just possess Momo?"

…

Zhao looked around, how could this be what the mind of a powerful hero would look like? He was in the middle of a peaceful peach grove. He thrashed around looking for Matoro. He knew that he would have to destroy the hero's mind to take over his body. Seeing no one Zhao yelled to the sky.

"Come out and fight hero! This body won't be yours much longer!" hearing nothing the admiral set a tree on fire. "I'll destroy every piece of you if you don't come out and fight!" Suddenly a voice spoke up.

"**Hey, leave the trees alone!**" Looking around for his enemy Zhao saw the small lemur that followed the Avatar around sitting on the ground.

"What are you doing in here?" Suddenly it hit Zhao "I… I possessed the monkey?"

"**That's lemur pal. Monkeys are just poor imitations of the real thing, and don't get me started on apes.**" Zhao shook his head in horror.

"No, no this is not possible! After weeks of planning, of waiting for every little piece to fall in place, I go and possess a useless furry animal!"

"**Well, actually you haven't possessed me yet.**" Zhao looked at the lemur in wonder, just how stupid was this animal? "**You haven't possessed me because I'm still here. This is still my mind**." With that Zhao summoned a fireball.

"You know what? I'm going to burn you to a crisp. And then I'm going to escape and possess Matoro, and then I'm going to use his body to take over the world, and there's nothing you can do about it!" Momo just smiled at him.

"**I don't think that's going to happen quite the way you envisioned it**." With that the little lemur suddenly grew to about Zhao's height. He was now dressed in a traditional kimono and was wielding a full sized Katana. "**You see,**" Momo continued to the amazed Zhao, "**this is MY mind, we play by MY rules.**" With that he attacked Zhao. Zhao barely had time to draw the sword that somehow materialized on his belt. The fight that followed was way to epic and too fast to explain with mere words (It was so epic in fact that when later there was an attempt to put the battle down on paper the paper spontaneously combusted with the power of ten atomic warheads. There were no survivors). Swords clashed, fire blasted and the surrounding area was totally decimated as the two combatants fought for the mind of a small lemur. Zhao felt himself being forced to back up as the attacks just kept coming. He gasped for breath as he blocked attack after attack. Finally he was backed up against the edge of Momo's mind. The fire nation admiral looked into the eyes of his opponent and saw no mercy.

"Who are you?" asked the tired firebender in a mixture of awe and horror.

"**I am Momo**." The answer came. "**I am awesomeness in the shape of a lemur**." With that Momo gathered up all four elements behind him in a swirl of light and sent them shrieking at Zhao in a spiral of death.

"How is that even possible?" The defeated Zhao cried as he was forcefully expelled from the mind of a creature that he was incapable of defeating, or understanding.

?…

Matoro

All of a sudden, Momo sneezed. Then Zhao went flying out of Momo and kept going until he hit the edge of the Spirit Gate. Upon landing Zhao proceeded to look around as if dazed. When he saw Momo he screamed like a little girl and ran though the Spirit Gate. Everyone turned and looked at Momo. The little lemur proceeded to lick one of his paws and started to clean his ears. We all looked at each other and Aang voiced what we were all thinking.

"Ok… what in the name of the Sky Spirits just happened?" Lhikan looked at Momo as he answered

"I think we just saw a very powerful firebender try to possess a lemur, and then go screaming like a little girl to some far corner of the spirit world where he can curl up in a fetal position and cry for the rest of all eternity." We all stared at Lhikan. "What? It's possible."

"Yeah, it's about as possible as me being a fire toa." I joked.

"How about I just steal all of your faces and we call it even?" we all turned around to see that Ko had woken up, and he was angry. But before he could do anything there was a flash of light at the Spirit Gate and a small figure flew into him, while holding to glowing swords. Ko screamed in pain as he thrashed around. Lhikan was looking pleased with himself so I asked him.

"Who is that?"

"That," he answered, "Is Solek; he's a Matoran of light… and your new partner in saving this world." I took a good look at him. He looked like he was twelve years old; he had pale skin, golden hair and eyes that were constantly changing color. I sighed.

"Oh well, the more the merrier, I guess."

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Author's note: Ok, I had a hard time not laughing when writing the possession scene. Long live lord Momo of the lemurs! (just so you know, I wrote Momo's lines in bold because I thought that it should seem a little more intimidating, maybe it's just me."

Please Review, thanks!


	10. A nice little interlude

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: The first story arc of "The Champion of Ice" is over. For those of you who like to story don't worry, I'll be back with the second arc soon, and it's going to be good. (Spoiler warning: does the word cabbage mean anything to you?) However, you probably want to read something while you are waiting… so…

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Chapter 9

A nice little interlude (aka, how else am I going to tie this all together?)

Aang and Lhikan

Aang smiled as he walked back though the Spirit Gate. Katara and Matoro had forgiven him. Although he still missed Katara he now knew that it was foolish to expect for her to wait for him after she had found someone else. Now he was happy knowing she was happy. After closing the Spirit Gate Aang turned around and saw Lhikan. Suddenly everything he had done to the toa come rushing back into his mind.

"Um, Lhikan, are you still sore about that little misunderstanding we had?" Lhikan smiled

"I think calling it a misunderstanding would be putting it lightly Aang, and no, I'm not. At a different time, I would have done the same thing to get someone back." Aang sighed in relief. He then looked around.

"Well, now what are we going to do?"

"Well, you are the bridge between the spirit and human realms… I doubt that the job stops just because you're dead."

"You're right!" exclaimed Aang "I could help hunt down evil spirits like Ko! I could ease the relationship between humans and spirits! I could…"

"Speaking of Ko, what did we do with him again?" The two heroes looked behind them to see the wounded Spirit waking up.

"Oh, boy." Groaned Aang "I should have known that he wasn't dead, spirits rarely die easily." Lhikan drew his twin blades from his back and brandished them readily.

"I am REALLY going to have to get on Matoro for this… he should have finished Ko off. But no! He was in a big hurry to go off and save the world." Aang looked at Lhikan in surprise.

"Are you complaining? You've been dead for centuries in your world… you'd think a little action would be a nice change from giving advice to the living." Lhikan thought about it for a second before breaking out in a rakish smile as Ko slowly turned to face them. The giant spirit's body was bloody and smashed yet he was still moving.

"You know what… you're right! This might actually be fun!" With that the two heroes launched themselves at the evil spirit. Proving once again that death was just a step on a long journey, and that if you were an awesome main character once then you were always capable of a little action.

…

Appa and Momo

The two furry friends relaxed as their human pals got to know the newest member of their team.

"Hi! My name is Solek, I'm an Av-Matoran from the same world as Matoro… you are Matoro right?" Matoro smiled at him.

"Yes, I'm Matoro and this is my… uh." Katara grinned and finished his sentence

"I'm his girlfriend, nice to meet you Solek." Appa snickered at the blush that covered Matoro's face.

"You'd think that he'd get used to her telling everyone that they're a couple. After all, he practically proposed earlier."

"Oh, really, I didn't notice… I was too busy wondering what angry-sideburn-man was up to." Appa looked at his small friend.

"Oh yeah… I've been meaning to ask you. What precisely happened in your head? We all saw Zhao posses you and then you sneezed him out."

"So?" asked Momo in an uninterested voice as he scratched his belly and helped himself to another apple.

"He ran screaming into the spirit world as if he had seen the scariest thing in the entire world… you don't find that strange?"

"Nope, not one bit." Momo answered. Appa shook his head.

"Momo, he was a powerful fire nation admiral who almost killed us multiple times. What did you do to him?"

"Nothing much" Grinned the lemur, "and if I did tell you there is a slight chance that the entire universe would implode."

"Well, we don't want that." Smiled Appa, he knew that when Momo wanted to hide something he usually was quite good at it so it was worthless to keep asking. "Hey, I think they're talking about us." Momo sat up when he heard that his massive friend was right.

"So I was thinking," Matoro started "We are still a long way from the rendezvous point with Sokka and the others. Why doesn't Solek take Momo and fly there ahead of us to let them know that we're ok." Katara looked at Matoro in surprise.

"Are you sure that he can do that all by himself?"

"I am almost as old as Matoro, and while it would take the bison three days to fly there I could do it in a day, at least!" Katara had to smile at the unbridled enthusiasm of the small boy.

"Ok, but only as long as you follow this map and listen to Momo." Solek nodded happily as Momo and Appa looked at each other.

"Great," complained Momo "Sent from watching the lovebirds to babysitting, nobody ever asks me what I want to do!"

"Sorry about that Momo." The two jumped as Matoro came over, it was still shocking that he could speak in their language. "I just need someone to keep an eye on Solek; he's new to this world and might get in trouble. Plus, you won't have to fly, you can ride in his pack the whole way… actually, you kind of have to. He'll be flying extremely fast." Momo frowned.

"Ok, ok, but only because it's you." With that Momo started to climb into the bag that Solek held open for him. He turned around to wave goodbye to Appa.

"Hey, Appa, watch the kids for me will you?"

"Sure thing good buddy, see you in a few days, be careful and hold on tight!" Momo rolled his eyes as he settled down into the bag.

"Oh please… just how fast do you think this kid is going to…" Momo never finished his sentence, mostly because as that very moment Solek generated a jetpack made of light on his back and took off. Momo was plastered to the side of the bag as he held on for dear life. Appa smiled as his friend yelled in horror as they got smaller on the horizon. "WAIT! SLOW DOWN! ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME? SLOW DOWN!" With that they were gone. Appa looked at the two humans who were tying up their bags and saying goodbye to Katara's grandparents. He smiled; this was going to be an interesting trip back.

…

Solek and Toph

Toph was out exercising, she never let a day go by without training. It helped her prepare to face whatever she might have to do in the next day. As she was training she thought she heard someone talking.

"Oh, be quiet you big baby, I only went fast enough to make it here in a day. I'm not sure that my new body could survive going much faster." Toph heard a familiar chatter in response and then the first voice laughed. "Sorry little guy, I can't understand lemur." Toph was confused, she could hear the voice but she had no idea where it was coming from, which meant that the person was not touching the ground. But, that meant that the person could fly.

"Hey! Who's out there?" yelled Toph. There was a startled gasp and the sound of something hitting a tree. Then the boy (for that's what it was) fell out of the sky and almost landed on top of her. Momo jumped out of the bag around the boy's shoulders and ran over to Toph. "Hi Momo," Toph smiled as the lemur climbed on her back. "Who's your friend?" Momo's chattering told her that while this boy was not an enemy he was most certainly NOT his friend. The boy had landed in a bush and was just now picking himself up.

"Ouch, why'd you have to yell like that?" He complained as he brushed himself off.

"Because I couldn't see you, how else was I to be sure that you're not an enemy?" This shocked the boy.

"You can't see me?" he asked.

"Well, now I can. I'm blind so I see though the ground instead of through my eyes."

"Wow! That's so cool! But, how can you do that?" Toph had to smile at him.

"I'm an earthbender, see." With that Toph created a small mound of earth to sit on. Even with her inability to see features she could tell that the boy's jaw dropped.

"Wait… you can control an element? But, you're my size." Toph stared at him.

"What does size have to do with anything? We'll just grow anyway." The boy grabbed her shoulders in shock.

"Wait. Do you mean to tell me that in this world we grow bigger?" Toph brushed the boy's hands off of her shoulder before answering.

"Yes, wait. Are you from Matoro's world?" But the boy was already jumping up and down shouting for joy.

"I'M GOING TO GET BIGGER! THIS WORLD IS AWESOME!" Toph had to smile at him.

"I don't think I know your name." She noted after he had calmed down a little. He did a little bow as he answered.

"My name, fair lady, is Solek. I am indeed from the same world as Matoro but I was sent here to help save it." Toph blushed slightly. Fair lady, really? Maybe having this boy around wouldn't be so bad.

…

Matoro and Katara

"Matoro, can we talk?" Matoro winced; he had known this was coming. Ever since they had left the South Pole Katara had been quiet, too quiet.

"Um, sure Katara… what did you want to talk about?" Matoro said as he moved to the back of the saddle and let Appa fly on his own.

"Oh, nothing much," She started. "I just wanted to ask you WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE OCEAN WERE YOU THINKING BACK THERE!" Matoro winced, yeah; he had known that this was coming.

"Are you saying that you don't like it?" Katara looked again at the necklace he had made, he still refused to let her wear it until he had talked to her father but he had at least let her hold it.

"Of course I like it; I love it, almost as much as I love you." She said as she scooted closer. "And that's why your little stunt trying to create it was a bad idea. I'd much rather have you then any piece of jewelry." Matoro smiled as he put his arm around her. Together they watched the sun start to set.

"I know I shouldn't have tried it. The only reason I did was I thought, correctly by the way, that I could do it." Katara looked at him sharply.

"If that was a thinly veiled apology then you could have fooled me." Matoro laughed.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry for risking my life for a silly little necklace."

"Better." Katara smiled as she snuggled closer. "You're going to like my dad."

"Just out of curiosity, what's he like?" Katara smiled at Matoro.

"He's like an older version of Sokka. You'll get along fine." Matoro nervously smiled back, this was going to be interesting. The two sat there watching the stars come out. When later they finally fell asleep as Appa landed on a small island they were still holding hands. Matoro smiled to himself, he had never been this happy. There was no way anything could ruin this.

…

Mutran

I had felt it, all that power being released over at the South Pole. That said only one thing in my mind, toa. I snarled to myself as I worked, I hated toa. All Makuta did, the rivalry between our two factions was millennia old. I had come to this world to escape both my own treacherous kind and the goody-two-shoes toa. I didn't know how one had managed to follow me, and I didn't care. I knew how to take care of him. I quickly worked; although I had plenty of metal I was missing many of the comforts of my original lab. Finally the device was finished, I looked at my work. There was one way that the Makuta had been destroying toa for centuries, the shadow form. It was an exact copy of the toa, only evil. I took a long breath and sent all of the shadow energy I could muster in this weak organic body at the device. The room grew dark and I could feel the power build. After almost an hour I was finished. I collapsed, cursing the body that bound me. I looked at my creation, it was human, and that meant that the toa was also in a human state. His skin was black like mine but when he opened his eyes they were ice blue instead of red. I smiled as he stood up and looked at me. The toa would never know what hit him.

* * *

Author's note: Now that that's over, on to story arc number 2. Get ready for Black Sun.

Please Review (it's proven to make me write faster if you do) and thanks for reading.


	11. The rise of Shadow

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

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Chapter 10

The rise of Shadow

Shadow

I am the darkness in a toa's soul, I am a nightmare in the minds of the heroic, I am the side of power that no one wants to admit exists, I am evil incarnate, I am Shadow. I looked up from a lab table and saw the Makuta who had created me. He was smiling evilly, but he was trapped in an organic form. I stared at him, even as an organic these Makuta were ugly. His face was narrow and pointed with red eyes and he no hair. Suddenly memories began rushing into my head and I screamed in agony. The original toa I was based after was named Matoro, and he was one of the most nauseating examples of heroic fools in the entire universe, he had actually died to save the world, voluntarily. Suddenly the memories changed, I saw Matoro come to this world, and fall in love, with a human. I almost threw up right then and there. Not only was I dealing with a fool, but a romantic fool. I saw all of his memories up to the time of my creation. I smiled, he wouldn't have many more, Not if I had anything to say about it. I then looked at my creator.

"You have got to be kidding, you created me? They must really be lowering the requirements to be a Makuta these days" He seemed shocked that this was what I would choose to say to him. He quickly gathered what little dignity that he had in an organic body and tried to respond.

"That is no way to talk to your master!" He stated in a raspy voice. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Please, you're no more my master than that girl over there." With that the Makuta turned around quickly. The female in question was staring at me in wonder.

"Ah, princess Azula, might I present my latest creation, a shadow form." Azula still stared at me, I winked at her roguishly.

"What's the matter princess, never seen a being made out of shadow compressed into a physical form before?" She came up and began to look closer.

"Amazing," she said after she had looked me over. She then turned to the Makuta. "Can you make more of these?" Mutran shook his head.

"I am sorry princess; I can only make copies of toa, and only one each. The toa are great heroes from my home world. One of them somehow found its way here so I created something to deal with it. Even making this one took almost more power than I had and any more of them would be a mistake." I smirked at him; he was obeying this little girl? That proved that he was weakened by his current form.

"Well, now that the introductions are over I must be off, I've got a hero to kill." I said as I jumped off of the table and looked around. Upon seeing one of the speeder bikes I started to walk towards it. Mutran quickly stepped in front of me.

"Just a minute, you obey me! And no one else! Now, for starters I would like you to…" I rolled my eyes and struck him with a bolt of lightning before he could finish. I then slammed his body against the wall and held it there.

"Listen and listen close Mutran." I said as he struggled against my superior strength. "I am no one's servant. If you wanted a servant then you should have created a shadow form of a fire toa, not an ice toa. We ice toa think for ourselves, it's very hard to control someone like that. Now, you created me to take out that goody-two-shoes Matoro, and that's what I'm going to do. However, once I'm done with him, I'm coming after you. And when I find you I'm going to make you wish that the toa was alive to save you. Enjoy thinking about that for the next few weeks." With that I threw him across the room. As I got on the bike I winked at Azula. "If you ever get tired of old shadowbones over there let me know, princess." With that I tossed a comlink to her. "Call me sometime; you really should deal with beings as evil, intelligent and good looking as yourself, like me." I then shot lightning into the bike and took off though the halls. I could hear Mutran ranting as I took the first exit and sped away from the palace. I skimmed over the waves as I began my hunt, I now lived for one thing, and one thing only. I would hunt down Matoro; I would take everything he cared about away from him. I would make him wish for death, and then I would grant his wish, in the slowest most painful way possible.

…

Azula was still having a hard time closing her mouth as Mutran got up and started mumbling to himself. The Makuta started grabbing blueprints and notes from his desk and looked over them quickly. He then smashed his hand on the table.

"Darn it! I'm still nowhere close!" Azula shook herself out of the trance.

"Close to what Mutran?" asked Azula quietly.

"I have a way to defeat that fool, but I need more time, if I could only have my lab from back home!" Azula looked at Mutran with disdain.

"You really are a fool aren't you? You make a super powerful minion and you don't have a way to stop him if he turns on you. That's just sad." Mutran snarled at her and kept working. Azula walked out of the room smiling. The only one who had lost today was Mutran, she knew that this Shadow was possibly smarter than her, and that was something that she would love to see, especially if he was helping her.

…

Sokka

I looked up at the sky again, today was the day. Solek had said that Matoro and Katara would arrive soon after him, that had been two days ago. Suki came up and sat down next to me as I watched the sky.

"Still waiting?"

"Yeah," I answered, "I know that they're going to be ok, but I still worry." She smiled as she kissed me on the cheek.

"That's because you're a good big brother and you really care for your sister." I smiled; she was right, as usual. I glanced up and saw Appa clearing the trees as he came in for a landing. I ran over just in time to see Katara jump off the saddle.

"Katara, you're back!" I yelled happily as I ran over and gave her a big hug. I was a little surprised when she returned the hug. "Whoa sis, let's not make Suki jealous." Katara smiled and released me. "How was the South Pole? Did you fix the problem that Aang told us about?" Katara's smiled turned sad and she looked away. I looked at Matoro for an explanation. He sighed and walked over.

"Gather everyone, I'll explain."

…

Matoro

I was walking with Sokka over to his father's tent. It was currently being used as a sort of headquarters for the camp. I was a little nervous about meeting him, Sokka had probably already filled him in about me and Katara, and I wondered what he would think about me.

"MATORO!" my train of thought was broken by a pink missile flying though the air and attaching itself to me in a massive hug. I could feel the air being forced from my lungs as I was squeezed harder.

"Ty…Lee…you're…choking…me!" I could barely gasp out the words. Noticing that I was being strangled Katara came over and grabbed Ty Lee and tried to pull her off me. But that just made Ty Lee hold on tighter.

"Oh, Matoro I was so worried about you! I thought I'd never get to see you again!" Ty Lee gushed as she planted a kiss on my cheek. By now the commotion had attracted the attention of the rest of the camp. Solek came running up with Toph and, seeing me being squeezed by Ty Lee promptly sat down and started laughing. Toph snickered as she walked over to Katara and tried to help her. Zuko poked his head out of his tent, smiled, and then went right back in. Suki and Sokka were holding each other up as they howled with laughter at the scene. I frowned, I had had enough!

"TY LEE LET GO!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. At that Ty Lee jumped in surprise which gave me just enough room to slip out. I fell to the ground gasping for air as Katara fussed about me trying to make sure I was ok and scold Ty Lee at the same time.

"Matoro, are you ok? What did Ty Lee do to you?" Ty Lee, realizing that I wasn't well, suddenly tried to push Katara away.

"Out of the way, waterbender, if anyone takes care of him it's going to be me!"

"Over my dead body!" Yelled Katara as she stood up and faced Ty Lee.

"That can be arranged!" With that the two squared off and were about to attack each other when a man who reminded me a lot of Sokka walked out of the big tent. He took in the scene in a glance and stepped between Katara and Ty Lee.

"Just one minute girls, what's this all about?"

"Dad! Please move so I can teach this circus freak a lesson." Asked Katara as she tried to get past her dad to get to Ty Lee, Ty Lee was trying to do the same thing on the other side. Hakoda (because that's who it was) looked at me and winked.

"I guess you're the cause of this disturbance?" I half grinned back, yeah; he was like an older Sokka, it was almost scary.

"In a small way, I think I am." I answered, "Although I had no wish to be a disturbance so early in the morning." Hakoda laughed and helped me up.

"I guess I'd be right in assuming that you're Matoro."

"Yes sir, that's me, and I assume that you're Hakoda?" He grinned at me and gestured towards his tent.

"Yes that is correct, now, how about we hear what you did in the South Pole, and how is my mother?" The two of us walked away ignoring the sounds of Sokka and Suki keeping Katara and Ty Lee from killing each other. Katara had been right, I really liked her dad.

…

The counsel of war consisted of Hakoda, Iroh, Sokka, Zuko and Matoro. After Matoro had related what had happened at the South Pole and what they had learned Hakoda leaned back and stroked his beard.

"What exactly is a Makuta?" He asked. Matoro frowned as he tried to describe one.

"Think of something that was once a powerful force for good, until it decided to go against the wishes of Mata Nui and tried to rule the universe themselves. They figured out how to have all of the light removed from them and in my world they exist only as shadows. In this world I guess they would be human, but do not let their appearance fool you. They are quite powerful, I'm not sure that I could take one on alone, even in this body." The four men looked at each other, with the exception of Hakoda they had all seen Matoro in action and knew what he was capable of. For him to say that he was outmatched was not good. Sokka looked up confused.

"Wait, so you can't stop it… but Solek can?" Matoro nodded, at the puzzled glances he laughed.

"Solek might seem a little inexperienced, but he can control light, a Makuta's one weakness." Zuko did not look convinced; he had been watching Solek for the few days that the small boy had been at their camp. He would be surprised if Solek could fight anything, much less an otherworldly evil. But he had found Matoro to be trustworthy. He just hoped that the toa was not putting more hope in the kid then he deserved.

…

Katara was using the time away from Matoro to do two things. One, get to know Solek better; she had not gotten to talk to him much at the South Pole. Two, put Ty Lee in her place, Matoro had confessed to loving her after all, not Ty Lee. But as hard as she tried Ty Lee would not accept the facts. On the other hand Solek managed to keep them from fighting by telling them stories about Matoro.

"And he really saved the universe by giving his life to Mata Nui?" asked Ty Lee.

"Yup, it was one of the most heroic things that a toa ever did." Ty Lee and I sighed, Matoro was so awesome. I turned to Solek and noticed that his eyes were still changing colors, it was slightly disturbing.

"Um, Solek, why are your eyes changing color?" I asked.

"It's because I haven't decided what color they're going to be yet." At our questioning stares he continued. "In my home world I could decide what color I would be. Apparently I can still do that as a human, just to a smaller extent. I can choose my hair, skin, and eye color, see." With that he became a swirl of color. We stared in amazement, well, Toph didn't. Toph just smiled sadly.

"I wish I could see what has the rest of you so exited, I've never seen colors." Solek seemed shocked by this and his color went back to normal.

"You mean that you've never seen, you've always been blind?"

"Yup, ever since birth, it hasn't bothered me much though, I still see fine through the ground." Toph shrugged.

"Wow, I don't think that I could have lived like that… I would have never been able to fly."

"Do you like flying?" Suki smiled at him. Solek blushed slightly before answering.

"Yeah, it's great. I used to spend hours just flying around back home… that and memorizing every single thing that any toa ever did." Katara looked impressed.

"Wow, really, every single thing?"

"Yup, ask me anything about any toa and I'll know the answer."

"Well, what can you tell me about Lhikan?" Katara asked. "He helped us at the South Pole but I don't really know all the much about him." Solek's eyes seemed to smile as he began telling them about one of his heroes.

"Toa Lhikan: He's a toa of fire and wears a mask of shielding. He has done so many heroic things in his lifetime that almost any other toa looks sad in comparison."

"Wow, sounds like he's had a pretty cool life." Ty Lee said. Solek's eyes clouded.

"Actually there was one thing that he had to do that still haunts him… He used to be the leader of a small team of toa, of that team three died, and two turned away from the light."

"That's horrible, does it still bother him?" Suki asked. Solek nodded in return.

"Yeah, mostly because one of them was a toa named Tuyet, she was a toa of water. They were close, REALLY close. She killed three Matoran and stole a powerful artifact to try to start a toa empire with her at the head. Then she blamed it on the Dark Hunters and almost started a war. Lhikan was the one who had to bring her in… and then she was taken to the highest security jail in the world. He always felt horrible for having to do that to her." The four girls looked at each other.

"Wait, what's a Dark Hunter?" Toph asked.

"They're a group of elite bounty hunters," Solek answered. "They'll take any job and get it done, no matter what the pay is. They sometimes work for the good guys but mostly they have their own agenda. Just be glad that you'll never meet one, they'd probably kill you on sight, and they're scary powerful." They girls looked at each other. Suddenly Suki stood up.

"Well, I think that some of us should go check on how the others are doing. Toph, Solek, why don't you come with me." With that she stood the two up and started to push them towards the camp. As she was leaving she whispered in Katara's ear.

"You need to talk to Ty Lee, really. I think that the two of you need to get the Matoro thing off of your chests, we are working together with her now." With that Suki walked away. Ty Lee and Katara stared at the ground awkwardly for a second before Katara started to say something.

"Ty Lee, I want to say…"

"I know." Interrupted Ty Lee. Katara blinked in surprise.

"Um, you know what?" She asked.

"I know that Matoro loves you and not me. I heard Sokka talking to your dad about it. I don't hate you for it, it just, makes me sad. I mean, what's wrong with me? Why did he pick you?" Ty Lee was close to tears. Katara suddenly felt so selfish, Ty Lee had known the entire time, how could she have treated her the way she did?

"I don't think it's a matter of anything being wrong with you or right with me." Ty Lee looked at Katara in surprise. "I think that there is a special someone out there for every person. Matoro is mine for sure." Katara smiled to herself. "He completes me, and I him. I'm sure that there is someone out there for you as well Ty Lee." Ty Lee smiled at Katara.

"Thank you, that was very nice of you to say, but I know better." Ty Lee looked at her feet. "I'm different, and besides Matoro no guy has ever been interesting enough for me to like. They've all been copies of one another, just interesting in my body and not me personally. I doubt that I'll ever find someone who loves me for who I am and is as interesting as Matoro." Katara shrugged.

"I never thought I'd find someone like Matoro. Who knows, just because you haven't met him yet doesn't mean that he doesn't exist.

"Yeah, you're probably right, I just hope I meet him soon, I'm not getting any younger." Ty Lee sighed to herself. "I just hope that things calm down a bit. I don't know how much more weirdness I can take." Katara nodded, it would be nice for everything to go back to normal. They didn't get their wish, suddenly several figures jumped out and covered their heads with bags. Before either of the girls could do anything they were tied up inside of the bags. They felt themselves being lifted and carried off. Ty Lee almost screamed, why couldn't she just meet a guy and settle down? All she wanted was an almost normal life; she was tired of all this action. They were carried for about a minute before they were set down and the bags were pulled off. Katara and Ty Lee looked up and saw one of the last people they wanted to see. Ty Lee swallowed nervously as she said the name of her former best friend.

"Mai?"

…

As fate would have it a portal was opening just north of their position. Three figures stepped out of the portal. Two were huge, one seven feet tall and the other only inches below him in height but with much broader shoulders. The third figure was smaller and slimmer than the others. All three carried unusual weapons. The tallest carried a massive double-bladed sword that was nearly as tall as he was. His comrade carried a giant axe in one hand as if it weighed nothing. The smallest carried the strangest weapon, a short staff that had an axe head on one end and a short sword on the other. The tallest of the figure turned to the other large one.

"Axonn, are you sure that this is where Voporak took the Mask of Time?"

"Yes Brutaka. He is here," The axe carrying warrior answered. "I can sense the mask's presence in this world."

"I can sense another presence." Axonn and Brutaka looked at the smallest and youngest warrior in their group. His name was Umbra; he had been the first guardian of the Mask of Life. Even though that was thousands of years ago the mask had frozen his ageing process so he seemed to be only 16 in his current body. "The chosen one is here." He said.

"Who, Matoro? Matoro is dead Umbra; he used his life-force to save the universe. There is no way that he is here." Brutaka scoffed. Umbra looked at Brutaka sharply as he continued.

"I guarded the mask for longer than I like to remember, I can sense its energy. There is a small amount of it in this world, almost as if a little of it is still clinging to Matoro, even after death." Brutaka shuddered, he would never get used to Umbra, the guardian was one of the few beings who spooked him. The weirdest thing was that he always seemed so sad. Axonn looked at Brutaka before speaking.

"If Matoro is here we should find him, we will need all the help we can get."

"Oh come on Axonn, we're just fighting Voporak, how hard is it going to get?"

"Very hard Brutaka, Voporak is no weakling, and we might have other problems." Axonn answered his old friend. "The Shadowed One will come after the mask. And he will not be alone." Brutaka nodded thoughtfully. He hated to admit it but Axonn was right, as usual. The three set off together; between them they possessed enough power to split a planet in half. The clash that was to come would either leave the world perfectly safe… or it would make it crumble as titans with powers beyond human understanding would fight, and die.

* * *

Author's note: Yeah, I really just did that, the mask of time is coming. And just in case someone is confused a shadow form is the evil side of a toa that has been given a body. If they defeat the toa in battle then they take over and the toa becomes evil. I'm not sure where they come from so I figured that Mutran would know how to make one... but why is he so weak? Keep reading to find out. And please review.


	12. Fast and Deadly

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

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Chapter 11

Fast and Deadly

The Shadowed One looked around at this new world. He wasn't quite happy with his new body, it inhibited his powers, but he liked what he saw. He saw a world that didn't know what true power was. No matter, he would show them soon enough. He glanced at the Dark Hunters that he had brought with him, the final few who were loyal to him and powerful enough to be of use. One, Darkness, would follow him though Karzahni's realm if necessary. Darkness had the unique job of making sure that that Shadowed One never lost his touch. If he ever saw a sign of weakness, one little slip up, he was to kill the Shadowed One on the spot. His form was ethereal and transparent, slipping from shadow to shadow. The second member was called Devastator. He was a powerful Dark Hunter who could turn into sand, allowing him to disappear into the ground and strike with rock-hard attacks; he also had telekinetic powers to mentally throw objects at his opponents as well. He was currently admiring his armored form. He was also quite strong, and a bit of a braggart. The third member of his party barely looked human. Lurker was hunched over and seemed to have an animalistic look about him. He had claws instead of hands and feet and several stinging tails. His face even looked more like an animal's snout than something that would be considered human. All three were trained killers, all three powerful enough to destroy armies single handedly. The Shadowed one smiled, he appeared as an old man, bent with age and covered with a cloak that hid his face. He leaned heavily on his spear. He had no true idea of how old he was, ever since his unfortunate encounter with Voporak he had known his days were numbered. But if he could find the mask of time none of that would matter. He needed to find it, and soon. The four Dark Hunters set off on their search, animals became quiet as they passed though. These beings were not to be trifled with.

…

Ty Lee

I looked up in surprise at my former best friend as she tossed a dagger in her hand. Katara looked at me confused.

"Wait, I thought that you and Mai were friends, what happened?" Mai smiled sadly as she began sharpening the dagger on a rock.

"She stole the one person I loved away from me… she took my Zuko and ran away with him!" Katara looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I quickly defended myself.

"No, no. That never happened! I was attacked and Matoro saved me!" I tried to explain to Mai. "We met up with Zuko later. I never stole him away from you!"

"LIAR!" she yelled." Not that it matters…now he will know; now Zuko will know my pain." She said quietly.

"Mai!" I cried, "Please, whatever you are planning to do don't do it, I promise that you'll regret it!"

"I trusted you Ty Lee, and this was how you repaid me. Now you are going to die and Zuko will find your body, or what is left of it." Mai said quietly. I looked at Katara in fear; we both knew what was coming next. Mai whipped out a dagger and prepared to throw it at me. "This is for stealing my Zuko!" with that she threw it. I closed my eyes, expecting to feel the cold blade enter my skull at any second. I opened my eyes when Katara gasped. A boy was standing in front of me, and he had caught the dagger.

"I don't usually like to involve myself in personal conflicts, but one of these girls is giving off an interesting energy signature, I can't let you kill either of them." He said in a matter of fact voice. I stared in shock, how could he have been fast enough to enter the secret camp AND catch the dagger before it hit me? Was he an airbender? Mai was also in shock, but not for long. She quickly emptied out her pockets; the air seemed to become alive with daggers, throwing knives and other sharp objects. The boy didn't seem to move, but in a second he was holding every single knife that Mai had thrown. Mai stumbled back in shock.

"Don't just stand there, kill them!" she cried to her group. A large earthbender covered in stone armor attacked first.

"I wouldn't advise that." The strange boy calmly stated.

"Ha, just who do you think you're dealing with?" the earthbender yelled as he sent large slabs of earth at the boy. The boy barely gave them a glance before disappearing. He reappeared on top of the Dai-Lee agent half a second later.

"I think that you are the one who has no idea who you are dealing with." He said calmly as he struck. I thought it would do nothing, the stone armor being as hard as steel. To my surprise the armor shattered in a flash of light and the giant earthbender fell to the ground. Next the wolf-bats jumped at him in a fury. But when they got to him they all fell to the ground, dead. There were burn marks on all of them, but it didn't look like the boy had moved. The man who controlled the wolf-bats cried out in rage and attacked the boy, only to be knocked down in an instant. Next a strange firebender with a metal arm and leg attacked with the twins. The boy moved faster than my eye could follow. In less than a second the firebenders were on the ground, the twins badly injured and the other one missing his metal arm and leg. The only two remaining were the strange fighter and Mai. The masked fighter took off and Mai tried to follow him, she didn't get very far before two giant men in armor stepped out in front of her. She tried to attack them but the taller of the two grabbed her arm and lifted her into the air.

"I wouldn't try that missy, Umbra was gentle. I, on the other hand, will not be." So that was the boy's name, Umbra. He was walking over to Katara and looking at her bonds.

"I think that Mai has the key…" Katara started to say, she didn't need to, Umbra gave her a look and struck the chains around her and me, and they melted.

"Thank you, I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't come along. Who exactly are you?" Katara asked as she brushed herself off.

"I am Axonn," answered the one carrying a huge axe. "We are looking for Matoro and Umbra here," he gestured at the boy, "Sensed the same energy signature that he in emitting coming from you." He pointed at Katara.

"Some of the energy that remains in him from the Mask of Life must have rubbed off. Have you been in physical contact with Matoro recently?" Umbra asked. I looked at Katara and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Gosh Katara, just what did you and Matoro do on the way back from the South Pole?"

"NOTHING!" Katara practically yelled. She was blushing a bright red so I knew she was lying.

"Really," I asked, "Because I'm sure that Matoro would follow the rules, but would you? And just how hard is it for this energy to rub off?" I asked Umbra.

"Quite easy, all she would have to do is touch him in passing."

"Oh, I think she did a little more than that." I winked at Katara.

"NO I DID NOT!" She yelled at me. She then calmed down and looked at her feet. "Look, we kissed a little and we might have cuddled but nothing more happened." I grinned, just as I had thought. I suddenly became sad, I remembered when I had tried to kiss Matoro and he had refused. I wondered what Katara had done differently than me. Axonn looked at Katara in surprise.

"Wait… you mean to tell me that you actually managed to get close to Matoro?" Katara nodded. "Remarkable." Axonn said quietly, almost as if he was thinking of something else. He then looked over at the tall man and frowned.

"Brutaka, are you going to hold that girl until her arm falls off?" Brutaka sneered and dropped Mai. He then drew a massive double-bladed sword and placed the tip on her neck.

"What are we going to do with this one?" he asked with a dark smile. "My sword hasn't seen any action yet, perhaps I could…" Before he could move Mai was gone. I turned around and saw that she was in Umbra's arms.

"Brutaka, you forget, she attacked me. That makes her my enemy. And I decided to spare her life." Umbra calmly stated as he set Mai down. Brutaka seemed surprised; but he quickly smiled at Umbra's action.

"Umbra, you know I was just kidding. And yet you jumped to this girl's defense, can you be getting soft already." Umbra did not answer him, although his glare told much more than words could. I shuddered; I hoped that I was never on the receiving end of that glare.

"Now, now, fighting amongst ourselves lets the enemy win." Axonn said as he stepped between them. "Miss, can you take us to Matoro?" he asked Katara. Katara nodded and pointed to Mai.

"What are we going to with her?" Axonn looked at Umbra. The strange boy shrugged.

"She has no weapons, and we might be able to get some information from her. I will watch over her." Axonn nodded.

"Very well, she is your responsibility. Let us leave." With that we led the strange men back towards our camp. I marveled at how weird this day had become in just a few short hours.

…

Matoro

As I exited the tent I was shocked to see a giant in front of me. He must have been seven feet tall and he carried a massive axe. I stared at it, I had seen that axe before, but, could it really be?

"Axonn?" I asked in wonder. He smiled at me.

"Yes, Matoro it's me. And might I say that you look quite good for someone who died to save a universe." I laughed at my old friend and clasped his hand in greeting. I looked behind him and stopped laughing. I drew my sword and was about to attack the other giant before Axonn stopped me. The giant laughed at my aggression.

"Don't worry Matoro," Brutaka smiled "I'm here to help, not try to kill you." I found that hard to believe, he had tried to kill me enough times in my home world to make me careful around him. I looked at the third figure who had a firm hand on Mai's shoulder. He looked familiar; I squinted at him to get a better look.

"Umbra, Is that you?" He nodded.

"Greetings, chosen one, it seems that you even avoided death. I commend you for your sacrifice; this world is a better place with you in it." I was relieved; I had been one of a very small number to defeat Umbra, and the only one to put him out of a job. After I had taken the Mask of Life Umbra had had nothing to guard. I figured that he would be mad at me; I guess that I had been wrong.

"Why are the three of you here?" I asked. Axonn frowned and gestured to the tent.

"Gather those in your camp who are in charge, we have much to talk about." I nodded.

"And could I have a place to put our prisoner." Asked Umbra, I nodded.

"Sure, use the stone tent on the edge of camp for now, Toph won't mind." Umbra nodded his thanks and lead Mai away. I then turned to Axonn.

"Ok, so, what's wrong?"

"We have reason to believe that the Mask of Time is in this universe, and that the Shadowed One is pursuing it." I felt my blood go cold. The Mask of Time was a very dangerous artifact. If it was even cracked it would begin to unravel time and space. If it was destroyed, all time would end with it. But if someone who could control it got a hold of it… that was even worse.

"How can I help?" I asked.

"We need to find where Voporak has taken it, and then we need to track him down before the Shadowed One finds him." Axonn answered.

"And we need to do it fast." Continued Brutaka, "I doubt that you need to be told that this is a top priority, we need you to drop everything and help us." I nodded, no matter how powerful the fire nation was they paled in comparison to the threat caused by the Mask of Time. And if the Shadowed one was close to claiming it… the world might just be closer to ending then we had thought.

…

Mai

I refused to look at anyone as I was brought into camp. I heard Umbra asking for a place to put me and followed him to a stone tent on the edge of camp. I sullenly sat down inside and prepared for my fate.

"Stop acting like that," Umbra stated as he sat down outside. "I'm not going to kill you." I looked up at him in shock.

"Why wouldn't you? I tried to kill you."

"Please, a normal human is completely incapable of causing me any harm." He said as he looked off into the sky. I could believe what he said; I hadn't even seen him grab my weapons after I had thrown them. But I was still suspicious so I asked a question.

"What would you do if I tried to run away?" He shrugged as if it didn't concern him.

"Nothing, I mainly told Axonn I would take care of you to keep Brutaka from 'having a little fun' with you." I was shocked.

"You mean I can leave at any time I want?" He nodded.

"Yes, you can. But something tells me you're a little tired of running." I looked at the ground. "Just what are you chasing?" he asked.

"I want revenge on Ty Lee for stealing Zuko."

"You don't really believe that she stole him, do you?" I glanced at him sharply. He was looking at me now and was completely serious. Was he that good at reading people?

"Why shouldn't I?" I asked hotly. "Why else would he have left? And he said as much in the letter he left me!" Umbra looked thoughtful as he stared at the sky. After about a minute he asked a question.

"Do you have the letter?" I started, this was an unusual question.

"I actually do… I wanted to leave it with Ty Lee so that Zuko would feel guilty for it… why?"

"Can I see it?" he asked.

"I… I guess so." With that I handed it to him.

"Thanks… I have an idea. Come with me." With that he began walking back to the main camp. I followed purely out of curiosity. What was he planning to do? Axonn was about to enter the tent when Umbra came up to him and handed him the letter.

"Axonn, could you do me a favor and take a look at this letter?"

"Sure, why not." The giant shrugged as he looked it over. "Let's see… this letter has been tampered with… let me see if I can fix it." Seemingly forgetting everything the giant sat down and turned to Matoro. "Can I have some writing utensils?"

"Sure." With that Matoro produced a quill and parchment. I was reeling in shock.

"Wait… how can you tell that it's been changed?"The large warrior looked up from his work.

"I have the power to see though all lies… I only see the truth. And the truth is that this letter was changed. I might be able to reconstruct the original letter if I really work at it… ah! Here we go." He handed me the new letter. "This is what the original looked like, to the best of my knowledge." I stared at the writing and felt my heart sink. This letter was completely different to what Azula had given me. I almost collapsed with shock.

"You… you're sure that this is right?" I asked Axonn, my knees trembling. He nodded in affirmative. I leaned against a tree to keep myself from falling over. "But, that means that Ty Lee is innocent, which means… I almost killed my best friend!" I reeled in horror and would have fallen if Umbra had not caught me. "I… I need to sit down." Umbra nodded and helped me back to the stone tent. I sat down inside and read though the letter once again. What a fool I had been, how could I have honestly believed that Zuko would betray me like that… and yet… Zuko must have met up with Ty Lee at some point; he would have known that I would be in trouble. And he left me to whatever Azula had planned for me; he didn't even try to save me. "I'm tired of my life starting to look good and then something happening to ruin it." I sighed in frustration.

"It could be worse." I looked at Umbra in surprise. "You could have spent several millennia in a cave waiting for someone to come just so that you could kill them and have a little break in the monotony of life." I stared at him.

"Yes," I started "I guess that that would be worse, but no one has ever had to do that, have they?" For the first time I saw Umbra smile, it was a small smile, and a little sad. But it was a smile.

"That was my old job." He said, looking off into the distance. "It wasn't fun."

"It must have been lonely." I said sympathetically. Glad that I could distract myself with someone else's problems.

"It was, the only beings I saw were the ones I had to kill, and they were never very good conversationalists. And the other guards were either unable to converse, didn't want too, or they were just insane." I looked at him closely, there was more to this boy then I had ever seen in Zuko. I had just told him things that no one else knew for flame's sake. He was quiet, attentive, and his very presence was filled with an almost hidden level of power. In short, he was pretty much everything I had wanted Zuko to be, and more. I lifted my head as I heard footsteps approach. Umbra looked out of the tent at someone.

"I think your boyfriend is here." He stated calmly.

"I really don't want to deal with this now." I stated turning away. "I need some time to think."

"I will make sure that he does not disturb you." I looked at Umbra in surprise as he stood up and walked toward Zuko. I stared at him as he left; a funny feeling entered my body. I had felt it before, but not often. It was… happiness.

…

Umbra

I walked over to the firebender that Mai had called Zuko. He stopped when he saw me approaching.

"Um, if it's not too much trouble, I'd like to see Mai." He said.

"Sorry, but she does not want to see you." I said calmly. He clenched his fists and glared at me.

"Look, I just want to explain things."

"She already knows everything about you and Ty Lee, the truth, not the lies that your sister told her." Zuko seemed surprised.

"Wait, what? She knows all that already?" I nodded in affirmative. "Then she should want to see me!"

"No, she is unsure of your feelings for her, and her feelings for you, for the moment I think that it would be best to leave her alone. You might try talking to her later after she has had time to think some things though." I said. Zuko looked at me in shock.

"What? Why not now, what made her hate me?"

"I think it was you leaving her, with or without Ty Lee. She felt left behind and was lonely." I stated. I could understand her feelings. "She feels that you used her and then ran off when you no longer needed her. She feels as if… as if you even forgot that she existed." I looked down and clenched my fists, my own feelings of loneliness and hurt were returning to me. I had felt the same way when the Order had sent me to a supposedly endless guard duty and jest left me there. No matter how powerful the Mask of Life had been it was wrong to remove any chance of that I had of having a normal life. I shook my head to clear my thoughts; this was no time to be dwelling on the past. "If you want to regain your position of friendship with her then you should think about how to apologize." With that I turned around and walked back to the tent. I sat down at the entrance and sighed. I was surprised when a hand touched my shoulder. I looked up, it was Mai.

"Thank you, I don't think that I could have put it as eloquently." She said. I shrugged.

"I've felt all of those feelings before, it wasn't hard to communicate them to him." Mai smiled, I was surprised, I had gotten the impression that she didn't smile often.

"I think that we should stick together, perhaps two foolish, lonely people can help each other out." I looked into Mai's eyes at her suggestion. I gave her a little smile.

"I'd like that, thank you, Mai." I was amazed, barely a day in this new world and I had already made my first friend. Perhaps I would like it here after all.

…

Shadow frowned as he watched the camp. This would not do at all. He felt like he could take the humans in the camp but these new people were a different story. He recognized them from Matoro's memories as Axonn, Brutaka and Umbra, three extremely powerful beings from the Bionicle universe. He wouldn't have a chance against any one of them, much less all three. He settled back into his hiding place, he would just have to wait until an opportunity presented itself before striking.

…

Two fire nation guards in Ba Sin Se thought that they had gotten the easy watch, they did not expect the rather large figure they tried to stop from climbing the wall into the inner city make them live out their entire lives in a second. Voporak barely gave the two piles of dust a second look as he entered the noble district. He would hide here and wait, as instructed. His master was coming; soon, very soon, his job would finally be over. He looked again at the mask in his hand; he had chased it across time and space for longer than he liked to remember. But soon the Shadowed One would be here, and then the Dark Hunters would rise to their rightful place as rulers of the universe. Voporak almost smiled, after all this was over he could rest. For the first time in millennia, he could rest.

…

The upper class of Ba Sin Se slept on, unaware that an object that could destroy their world had entered their city. But they would soon know, for the day of Black Sun was coming closer. On that day more than the sun would be blacked out. The animals in the city zoo could sense it; something bad was here in the city. But something worse was coming. The city of Ba Sin Se would never be the same.

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Author's note: I would bet a thousand dollars in any currency that no one reading this can guess what is going to happen in the upcoming battle. Let's just say that the Dark Hunters will seem like a small problem once a new issue is added in. And for those of you who don't know who Umbra is... shame on you! Any Bionicle fan should know that he was the first guardian of the Mask of Light and a Walmart exclusive set, and that he had the ability to change his body into a light particle (the only person to my knowledge to be able to do that). Please review! It makes me write faster. :)


	13. Black Sun approaches

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Enjoy and Review.

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Chapter 12

Black Sun approaches

Sokka and Iroh looked at a map of the earth kingdom as Hakoda told them of his plan.

"The way I see it an attack on the fire nation now would be futile… even with Matoro and Solek we would most likely gain nothing. And if it is true that Azula knows about our plan to invade during the eclipse we might be heading into a trap." They nodded, it made sense. "However, I don't think that we should waste the eclipse. So I propose that we use it… to liberate Ba Sin Se." Sokka looked at his dad in awe. It was a brilliant plan, Ba Sin Se only had a small amount of guards and most of them were firebenders to begin with. "If we can liberate Ba Sin Se the earth kingdom will be restored. And if that happens we will be able to launch a more powerful attack on the fire nation." The three nodded. Just then Matoro showed two large men into the tent.

"Hi guys, let me introduce you to Axonn… and Brutaka" He said, glaring at the second figure. Brutaka shrugged.

"You really need to get over that, Matoro."

"Yeah right, I'll get over you almost killing me right after Teridax actually dies." Matoro scoffed.

"Um, you know that happened, right?" Brutaka grinned. "We beat him."

"Right, just keep on telling yourself that." Matoro smiled "I personally froze him solid and he still managed to come back. I'll believe he's dead when I see him burning in Karzahni's realm."

Author's Note: Yes, I know that officially he's dead… but really… how many other times have we thought that and been wrong? A lot, Makuta Teridax will NEVER die… he's one of those villains who always come back. I mean, who else PLANNED their own deaths and revivals, multiple times?

Axonn rolled his eyes and turned to the others in the room.

"I bring terrible news… your world is in dire peril." He said.

…

Shadow had been watching the camp for the better part of an hour as a plan began to form in his mind. He was distracted when he saw that another person was watching the camp as well. With a movement as quiet as dusk itself he stepped behind the strange warrior. Shadow recognized him as the fighter who had run away from Axonn and Brutaka earlier. He was apparently watching the camp trying to find out what to do next. The shadow form quickly put his hand over the warrior's mouth and whispered in his ear.

"Don't move; don't even think about moving… just listen. You have enemies in that camp right? Well, so do I. I think that we would have a better chance of winning if we worked together… what do you think?" The strange boy nodded and Shadow let him go. "Good, now, I've got a plan… With your help we could both get what we want out of this… oh yeah, this might hurt a little." With that Shadow shot his new ally with a blue zamor sphere.

…

Later, after the situation had been explained, Matoro looked over the map and pointed to two points.

"If Voporak was trying to hide and wait until the Shadowed One comes to him then ether Ba Sin Se or the fire nation capital would be ideal… there are so many people that no one would notice a few more, no matter what they looked like. Also," Matoro continued. "They would be idea places for The Shadowed One to begin his reign of terror." Hakoda nodded, it made sense.

"Then I suggest that we send out two teams, one into the fire nation and one to Ba Sin Se… both cities can be infiltrated and we should be able to find out if this Voporak is there." Hakoda said. "And if this mask is in Ba Sin Se then we just liberate it as planned during the eclipse." Axonn was impressed, despite their small size and power level these humans were very capable planners.

"Who should go where?" asked Sokka.

"I think that you should lead the team into Ba Sin Se Sokka, I'll take Matoro and Katara into the fire nation. We should be able to handle ourselves, plus, the fire nation team would have to be smaller anyway. Now, as for the others… Zuko and Iroh should probably stay out of both teams. The fire nation would recognize them on the spot. And as for you Axonn, well, you would stand out way too much." Axonn nodded, he and Brutaka didn't exactly look like normal people. "I think that if we send Solek, Toph, Suki and Ty Lee in with Sokka they should be fine." Brutaka frowned.

"Wait, I see how that helps you but how do we know that your friends won't claim the mask?" he scowled. "I'll trust Matoro enough to know not to use the mask, but the rest of you? I insist that Umbra be sent in with the others to Ba Sin Se. If only to make sure that our interests are looked after. Axonn rolled his eyes, Brutaka was so mistrustful. Hakoda must have realized this because he nodded. Matoro stood up and stretched.

"Well, I guess we had better get ready for these missions… it should take about a day to pack everything and make sure that we can get in without being caught." The others nodded; this was one plan that was going to have to work perfectly. If it didn't then their lives and possibly time itself would be over.

…

While all this planning was going on Ty Lee was laying down next to the river. She was going through her head all the things that Katara had said about finding the right guy. She had been so sure that it had been Matoro, but apparently it wasn't him. How could it be? He had chosen Katara over her. Ty Lee sighed to herself as she watched the clouds. She looked up when she heard someone coming up behind her, it was Mai. Ty Lee wasn't sure what to expect as the quiet girl sat down next to her.

"Ty… I'm so sorry, I… I just found out the truth." Ty Lee looked up at her friend in amazement… was Mai crying? "I… I found out that Azula tricked me into fighting you by forging the letter. I don't know why I didn't see it before… it makes so much sense. I should have known that you would never betray me or anyone else. Can you ever forgive me?" Mai looked at Ty Lee with tears running down her face. Ty Lee sat up and gave her best friend a big hug. Mai was too shocked to hug back as Ty Lee answered her.

"Of course I forgive you, I was never mad at you… you're my best friend. And I think that had our places been switched I would have done the same thing." Mai smiled though her tears… how could she have expected anything different from Ty Lee. Ty Lee broke the hug and smiled at her best friend. "I'm so glad that you're not trying to kill me anymore." Mai smiled at Ty Lee's stark honesty. How could she have ever thought that Ty Lee had betrayed her?

"So if you didn't run off with Zuko what really happened?" Mai asked. "How did you run into this Matoro guy?" Ty Lee blushed.

"It's kind of a long story…"

"I'm not doing anything at the moment; I could use a long story." Mai smiled. Ty Lee nodded and began to tell Mai all that had happened in the last month. She told her about being attacked by the Dai-Lee being saved by Matoro. She told her about how they met Zuko and then found the Avatar's friends and traveled to the earth kingdom. She even confessed to falling for Matoro.

"There was just something different about him, he was so much different from any guy I had ever met… he didn't try to make me feel special but treated me like an equal. He's kind and considerate and never rude. I don't know what's so different about his world but it really makes him stand out."

"I know what you mean." Mai smiled. "It seems like anything from that world is special, heroic even. They're so different from us, and yet so very much the same." Ty Lee smiled at Mai.

"It sounds as if you've fallen for one of them." Mai blushed for what was probably the first time in her life.

"It's possible," She confessed, "I'm not sure what to think now. I still feel like Zuko just left me behind, even though I know that he didn't leave me for someone else." Ty Lee nodded.

"So… who is it?" She asked. "Solek? No, he's too young for you… Matoro wouldn't make sense since he's practically proposed to Katara… could it be… Umbra?" Ty Lee knew from the way that Mai looked away that she had hit it on the head. "Don't feel ashamed, he is quite dashing. And fast, really fast. I don't know how he caught all those weapons." Mai nodded.

"It's more than that… I owe him both of our lives. Had he not gotten involved I might have killed you. Plus, I kind of feel sad for him. He's spent his entire life away from normal people, almost as if he was being punished. He was never allowed to have a normal life or any friends. It makes my life look like a bed of roses." Ty Lee nodded.

"Matoro had a hard life as well, and so did Solek. Maybe the reason they're so different is that they've led lives that would make most of us lose hope. Plus, they are a lot older." Mai looked at Ty Lee in surprise.

"What do you mean? Matoro looks like he's the same age as us. Same thing with Umbra… and Solek looks like he's 12ish." Ty Lee nodded her head.

"In this world they look like that, but Matoro said that he's actually over seven thousand years old in his original body." Mai stared at Ty Lee in shock.

"Wow, that's quite an age difference… no wonder their so mature, with that much time to grow up it's amazing that they would even consider us equals." Ty Lee nodded. They truly were amazing.

…

Matoro

The planning faze was over and everyone had left the tent except Sokka, Hakoda and me. I twiddled my thumbs while looking at the map. I knew what I wanted to say, I just wasn't sure how to say it. Hakoda must have sensed my discomfort because he turned to Sokka and smiled.

"Sokka, why don't you find out if dinner is ready yet?"

"Sure dad." Sokka said as he stood up. He then winked at me and left the tent. An uncomfortable silence fell between us until I finally spoke.

"Um, so… I guess that Sokka told you about Katara and me?" Hakoda nodded and smiled.

"What's the matter? From what he told me you haven't done anything wrong. Why are you so nervous?" he asked.

"I've never had to anything like this before." I explained. "In my world we don't really have a 'marriage' tradition. I'm not even sure where to begin." Hakoda smiled understandingly.

"In truth there is no real right or wrong way to do this… why don't you tell me what you find special in Katara?" he suggested.

"Well…" I began. "When I saw her for the first time she was trying to kill Zuko, I jumped in the way and stopped her and she tried to get past me. I didn't really realize how beautiful she was until later when she laughed at a small joke that Sokka made, her laugh was beautiful. But I was unsure of my feelings so I said nothing. I was honestly surprised when she kissed me for the first time, I couldn't believe that she felt the same way about me. It didn't make sense; I was a creature from another world sent to take the place of one of her best friends. Then we took the trip to the South Pole. I really got to know her during that trip. I learned about your customs and about the history of this world. Then she was forced to choose between me and the Avatar when he was tricking into thinking that he could come back to life. To my ultimate surprise she chose me. I still don't know why. I think that the main reason that I love her is that she makes me feel together. As if I've been missing something for a long time and finally it's been found again." I blushed slightly as I looked up. "Sorry, that must have sounded pretty silly."

"Not at all," Hakoda smiled. "For someone who has no idea what he is doing you figured it out quite well. In truth I was worried about Katara. There aren't any boys her age back at the South Pole. And finding someone in wartimes is difficult to say the least. I know that she's always wanted someone to just appear and sweep her off her feet. I have to say that I'm a little surprised that it actually happened." Hakoda and I laughed at the irony of the situation. He patted me on the back as he stood up. "As far as I'm concerned you'll make a fine husband for Katara… as long as you pass the marriage test." I looked up in surprise.

"Wait… what test?" Hakoda winked.

"Follow me and find out." We left the tent and walked to the shore. Sokka was leaning on one of the water tribe ships and nodded at his father as he walked up.

"So… we ready to put him to the test?"

"Yup, we are." Hakoda laughed before explaining it to me. "This is actually a rite of passage in the water tribe called 'ice dodging'. Every water tribe warrior has to complete this before he is accepted into the tribe as a full member. If someone from another tribe wants to marry into our family they have to complete the ice dodging test." I nodded, but one thing was missing.

"Um, where are we going to find any ice?" I asked.

"We'll use the large rocks just south of here." Sokka smiled. "It's where Bato took me 'ice dodging' a while back."

"You're allowed to pick two members of your crew." Hakoda added. "I suggest that you pick wisely, I'm off limits but anyone else will do." I thought about it for a second. Katara was an obvious choice but I wanted to surprise her. I thought about the other options. Zuko and Iroh would have no idea what they were doing, and Ty Lee wouldn't be that much of a help and Toph would be useless because she wouldn't be able to see. Solek though, he had spent a lot of his life flying, He would know about wind currents and how to use them. As for the second person… I needed someone I completely trusted. I smiled as the answer came to me.

"I pick, Solek, and Sokka." Hakoda smiled.

"Good choices… go get Solek and we can get this show on the road.

…

Matoro had never been sailing before. He had learned a little in his adventures but he was nowhere near an expert. He looked at his crew's faces. Solek didn't quite understand what was going on but he did understand that Matoro had picked him for a great honor. This fact was making him take his job very seriously. Sokka looked relaxed as he stood at his post. Hakoda was sitting at the front of the ship.

"Remember, I cannot help. If you are to succeed then you must work as a team and listen to Matoro." The three nodded. Sokka remembered his ice dodging in this area; he was determined to help Matoro without giving him an unfair advantage. Almost without warning the rocks were upon them. Matoro pushed on the rudder to get them out of the way and cried out orders to his crew.

"Solek, drop that sail until you think that we've lost enough speed to dodge that next rock, Sokka you keep yours taught! The two boys nodded and when about their tasks. The job got harder as they went on. Hakoda purposely picked a time in high tide when the waves were unusually rough. Matoro was throwing his entire being into keeping the ship in one piece. Although he was not used to command he did have one quality that was always present in ice toa… he worked well under pressure. A few tense minutes Sokka looked ahead to see the rocks that he, Katara and Aang had managed to get past. He suddenly realized that they didn't have a waterbender on the ship, and Matoro wasn't slowing down.

"Matoro! We need to slow down!" he cried out. "There's no way that we'll get over those rocks!"

"If we slow down we'll get caught by that!" Matoro gestured behind him. Sokka turned around to see a fire nation ship quickly gaining on them.

"Great… high stakes!" yelled Solek. Matoro instantly changed tactics.

"They've got us walled in… we'll have to fight them, or..." He didn't look all that thrilled. "Sokka, can you do both Solek's and your job?"

"Possibly, why?" he answered.

"Because I need Solek up here." Matoro answered. "Solek, remember those light cannons you said you were working on?"

"Yeah, what would I need…? OH!" Solek's face broke out in a grin as he realized what Matoro was asking him to do.

"That's right Solek. I want you to make those rocks look like a herd of Kikanolo ran over them!" Matoro smiled. Solek saluted and created a giant cannon made of light on the deck.

"Wahoo!" with a wild whoop he let lose his newest creation. A large cannonball made of light blasted the rocks with amazing accuracy. Matoro used some rope to tie the rudder down and yelled to Sokka.

"Let the sails out! I want to go though that gap at full speed!" Sokka nodded as Matoro turned and faced the attacking ship. The toa of ice took a deep breath.

"Let's see if I can pull this off." He whispered to himself as he closed his eyes. With a smooth movement he brought his hand up and concentrated. He reached out with his powers and felt for something that had not been there before. He found it and smiled… perhaps being human wasn't so bad after all. Sokka heard a familiar sound behind them and turned around to see a massive tidal wave rising between them and the fire nation ship. Sokka felt his mouth drop involuntarily as Matoro gestured down and made the wave smash just behind the ship. The impact drove the forward like a stone skipping across the water. Just after they passed through the hole that Solek had made Matoro made another massive wave grow and freeze, blocking the pass. He then untied the rudder and brought the ship around to safely land on the beach. Sokka turned at Matoro and stared.

"How… I thought that you could only control ice!" He exclaimed.

"So did I," Matoro smiled. "I just thought that since water and ice are basically the same thing I might as well try. Your waterbenders can do it so why couldn't I?" Solek whooped and shot several lasers into the sky.

"WAHOO! WE WON!" Matoro and Sokka laughed along with him as Hakoda smiled. In truth he was having a hard time keeping his legs from shaking. He never would have guessed that Matoro was that powerful. He stood and applauded the boys.

"Excellent job! Matoro, I don't think that I've seen a waterbender do anything like that, ever." Matoro shrugged.

"I was thinking that it was horrible next to some people in my world. Hahli probably would have laughed at how weak by attempt at a tidal wave was." Hakoda shook his head. So much power and he thought he could have done better. What kind of enemies were these Dark Hunters that they would scare people like Matoro.

…

Solek

Later we all lined up in front of the ship. Hakoda came forward and painted a symbol on my head.

"Solek, for your boundless courage and unflinching ability you are presented with the mark of the brave. I grinned as he finished the symbol and moved to Sokka. "Sokka, you've already completed this task so you don't need to be reminded of your skill." Sokka nodded as Hakoda moved on to Matoro. "Matoro, for your quick thinking and ability under pressure I give you the mark of the wise. Welcome to the water tribe, both of you." A small smile crept up Matoro's face as he turned to me.

"Hear that Solek, we've got a family now." My smile must have almost cracked my face as I nodded.

"Matoro," Hakoda continued. "You also now have my permission to ask for Katara's hand in marriage." I glanced at Matoro. So that was what this was all about. Sokka was congratulating him and slapping him on the back. I smiled as I remembered what I had heard about Matoro from his friends. They had said that he had always put others first, and had rarely done anything to advance himself. He had always done his duty, but his closet friends had felt like he had always wanted something else. As I shook his hand in congratulations I hoped that he had finally found what he was looking for. I smiled evilly and made small cannon and used it to drench Matoro with water.

"Water fight!" I yelled out and laughed as Matoro retaliated by spraying me with cold water. Even Hakoda and Sokka joined in. When we later walked back into camp we were soaking wet and all three of us were grinning like fools. Katara and Suki stared at us in surprise.

"What have you guys been doing all afternoon?" Katara asked. "And why are you so wet?"

"Let's just say…" Hakoda said as he put his arms around us. "That we were having a little bonding time."

"With water?" asked Suki as she raised an eyebrow at our wet clothes.

"Is there any other way?" I asked innocently. Matoro, Sokka and Hakoda broke out laughing as Katara and Suki looked at each other and shrugged. I smiled, Matoro had been right; being part of a family was one of the greatest things in the entire world.

…

Mutran checked to see if anyone was watching. When he was sure that he was alone he opened a secret door to the back of his lab. Not even Azula knew that this place existed. If she did she probably would have had it burned. Free from prying eyes Mutran returned to his true form. It felt good to be out of the weak body that he had to hide in. He walked over to his latest project and smiled to himself. The shadow form had said he was weak, and he was right. Mutran had been at an all time low that day as far as power was concerned. However, that was not because he had used too much of it on the shadow form, it was because he had been using his shadow energy on something else. In truth he had allowed Shadow to leave and had made Azula think that he had been beat. The Makuta ran his hand over the armored shell of his newest weapons with almost loving care.

"Soon, my sons, soon we shall take our rightful places as rulers of this world. And then there will be no more need for little girls and their petty schemes or rebellious shadow forms. Then, this world will know the true power of a Makuta!" Mutran laughed to himself as he left the room and returned to his human form. Just who did these humans think that they were dealing with?

* * *

Author's note: Yeah, so... anyone else see that coming? Guess not. Still, it does explain why a fully realized Makuta would have problems defeating a shadow form. Please remember to review.


	14. Preparation

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 13

Preparation

The next day was spent preparing for the trips. Hakoda decided to take a small skiff instead Appa who would be seen by the fire nation. Mai insisted, much to Zuko's displeasure, on going with Umbra.

"I'd much rather you stay here so I could take care of you." He argued. Mai frowned at him.

"You don't need to protect me Zuko! I can take care of myself, and if I get into trouble then you can come and save me." She mocked him. "I just need some time to think about our relationship, away from you." Zuko sadly nodded. As Mai walked away he turned to Umbra.

"If anything happens to her I will blame you."

"Why me?" Umbra asked in surprise.

"Because I am placing her safety in your hands, don't fail. You'll regret it if you do!" With that Zuko walked over to his uncle and stood with his arms crossed, glaring at Umbra. Umbra smiled to himself… what emotional creatures these humans were. Sokka was giving a similar speech to Matoro.

"And if there is even a slight chance that the mask is there you drop everything and get her to safety."

"Yes Sokka," Matoro grinned, "You do know that your dad is coming with us, right?"

"Yes, I know that." Sokka answered "But when push comes to shove it would help if both you and dad tell her to get out of there." Matoro nodded, it made sense. Katara was really stubborn and would most likely want to help. Hakoda and Katara came up carrying their bags. Katara hugged Sokka and looked at Matoro.

"Are you ready to go?" Matoro nodded.

"Yup, I'm all packed." Hakoda looked over the small bag that Matoro was carrying.

"Don't you have more to pack?" asked the water tribe chieftain.

"Not really, Lhikan gave me the clothes on my back and this sword… I don't have much else." Matoro answered with a shrug. Hakoda smiled and winked at the toa.

"Well then… I guess that my daughter will have her work cut out for her making you clothes after you finally propose huh?" Matoro blushed.

"Yeah, why haven't you official proposed to me yet?" asked Katara. "It's not like you and dad don't get along, unless you're hiding something from me." Matoro shook his head.

"No, I'm just waiting for the right moment."

"Aw, why not now?" asked Katara sadly.

"Because," answered Matoro "wouldn't you like it to be so special that you'll never forget it?"

"I guess…" Katara sighed. She wished that Matoro would just get it over with. She had seen him talking to her dad and had thought that he would do it before they left for the fire nation. She frowned to herself as she loaded her stuff into the skiff. Why was he taking so long? It seemed as if he was hesitant to ask. He couldn't have been doubtful of her answer, she had dropped enough hints that even Sokka knew what she wanted, so why was he waiting? Matoro shook Umbra and Axonn's hands and tousled Solek's hair.

"See you later guys, be careful alright. Your human bodies might be impressive but they get hurt easily." Axonn smiled. He was glad that Matoro was adapting well to his new world.

"Don't worry Matoro, we'll be fine."

"Yeah… with two heroes like Axonn and Umbra what could possibly go wrong?" Solek smiled.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Brutaka glared at the small boy. Solek was unfazed.

"Oh, yeah, Sokka's pretty good too, isn't he?" Brutaka nearly exploded and Axonn had to give him a look to stop him from taking on the diminutive boy.

"One of these days your jokes are going to get old!" the massive warrior snarled as he sharpened his sword on a rock.

"Really, when?" Solek asked innocently.

"Oh, about a thousand years ago!" Brutaka snarled as the rock was sliced in two by his vigorous sharpening. Matoro shook his head and continued saying goodbye. Everyone knew that both missions were very dangerous, and that they might not see each other again.

…

Later that day Matoro was taking a turn at the helm of the ship. Katara was keeping watch in the front of the ship and it was a quiet, the only noise being the sound of the waves around the boat. Hakoda walked over and sat down next to Matoro. Both men were silent for a minute before Hakoda spoke up.

"Why haven't you asked her yet?"

"What?" Matoro started out of a deep concentration.

"I gave you the ok, what are you waiting for?" Hakoda asked. Matoro looked down at his feet.

"I… I'm just afraid that I might not live through saving the world." Hakoda raised an eyebrow at Matoro.

"Why's that? From all I've heard you're an impressive fighter, and you're a powerful bender on top of that, what do you have to be worried about?" Matoro was silent for a moment before answering.

"I died saving my world… and here, I'm not as strong. Especially with a Makuta, the Mask of Time, and who knows what else placing this world at risk I might not make it."

"You make a good point," Hakoda smiled. "But you're just fooling yourself. Life is short, and we don't really know what's coming tomorrow. You should ask her while you have the time. I'm sure that she would rather spend a day with you then wait a year for you to ask her to." Matoro looked at Hakoda in wonder; this man was wise long before his years had even reached a hundred. Nuju had once said something similar.

…

Nuju had been looking out at Ko Koro when he had imparted one of his many gems of wisdom to Matoro.

"Matoro, even with our lifetimes we have a limited time to do things… this means that we should focus on doing good and helping others, as all toa do. But we should also chaise our dreams, and never let them go."

"But Nuju," Matoro remembered asking, "I don't have any dreams. I'm happy right now."

"Ah, then you have the rare gift of contentment." Nuju had smiled at his assistant. "Be glad of it, but don't forget that some things require action. Some day you might want to do something that will be out of your reach. Don't give up on it… complete it, even if you almost die in the trying."

…

Matoro smiled to himself before standing up and handing the helm to Hakoda.

"Would you mind taking the helm for a moment? I have something I should have done a while ago to do." Hakoda smiled and winked at Matoro.

"Go get her, I couldn't ask for a better son-in-law." Matoro smiled gratefully and walked towards the front of the ship. Hakoda smiled sadly as he watched the young toa go… Matoro reminded him so much of himself at that age. He looked up at the sky and whispered.

"Well dear, I don't know if you can hear me. But I thought that you'd want to know that your daughter turned out ok, and she managed to find a guy that you'd like. I just wish you could be here to see it.

…

Solek ran up to the wall of Ba Sin Se and looked around. Since he was not immediately attacked by a horde of guards he knew that the coast was clear. He gestured to the others and they quickly joined him. Toph quietly made a tunnel through the wall and they all quickly ran to the other side. After Toph had closed the tunnel behind them they set off towards the second wall. This was harder than it sounds because they were walking on open farmland. There were several close scrapes, including a quick scurry for cover as a platoon of tanks rolled past with search lights.

"Do they usually have this much security?" Grumbled Solek

"No, they don't." Sokka answered. "Something must have set them off."

"Perhaps Voporak is here after all." Umbra said quietly. "That would explain the extra guards." The others nodded. They quickly continued, each hoping to make the inner wall before they were discovered. They had to hurry and search the city, the eclipse was due in just four days. Mai worried that they wouldn't be able to make it. Her normally dark mood was worsened when she tripped over a hidden root in the ground. She was trying to stand up when Umbra reached down and helped her to her feet.

"Come on, we're almost there." He gave an encouraging smile. Mai blushed and continued after the others. Umbra raised an eyebrow at her. Why would she be blushing at him? He almost thought it should be the other way around. He shook his head in an attempt to force the doubts and feelings that he had out of his head. How could she affect him like this, they had only known each other for two days for Mata Nui's sake! Umbra continued running with the rest of them. His feelings for Mai didn't matter. Since when did he get a choice in what happened to him anyway? As long as he was a member of the Order of Mata Nui he would always have his path chosen for him. That was the way it was, and was always going to be.

…

Matoro

I was practically shaking as I walked to the front of the boat. I had never felt this scared before. Not even when facing enemies who were capable of killing me on the spot I had never lost my cool. Even when fighting Makuta Teridax thousands of miles underwater I had managed to keep a calm head. I could see Katara looking into the distance… well, this was it. All of my reservations came back and it almost seemed like my head was telling me that there was no use trying. I was the one destined to save the world, and I couldn't actually be happy while doing it. Why would this work when nothing else had. I pushed all of my concerns aside; fear was no longer an option. I suddenly realized that at my core I had always been waiting for this moment. I smiled as I understood what Lhikan had been trying to tell me when he sent me into this world. I really did find the one thing I was missing, I found Katara. I took a deep breath and walked over to her. It was time to complete my destiny, again.

"Why does my destiny always have to put me in awkward situations? And why does it have to involve water?" I mumbled to myself as I pushed past my fear and walked up to the girl of my dreams.

…

Katara

I was looking out at the waves when I heard Matoro walk up behind me.

"Um, hi, Katara." He started. He was looking at his feet and rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"What's the problem Matoro? Are you ok?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm ok, there's no problem." He smiled. His smile seemed a little too big and his entire body seemed to be shaking, almost as if he was afraid to go on. "I… I just… uh… I wanted to… Oh for Mata Nui's sake! Why do I have to be so bad at this?" He smacked himself in the face and looked me in the eyes. "Katara, I'm going to say this fast so that I don't lose my courage and chicken out at the last second." He took a deep breath and blurted out the words that I had been waiting to hear for almost a month and a half. "Katara would you do me the honor of becoming my wife." He clasped his hands over his mouth as if he was surprised that the words got out. I stared at him before breaking out into a big smile.

"Of course, you big buffoon, why'd you take so long to ask?" As he started to explain I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. "You know what, don't answer that… I don't think I care anymore." With that I pushed him back against the side of the boat. "Now," I purred, "Don't you owe me something?" I asked

"I… I guess I do." With that he brought the necklace out of his pack handed it to me. I took my mother's necklace off for the first time in months. I looked at it before tying it around my belt, it still meant a lot to me and I wasn't about to get rid of it. I then tied my new necklace around my neck.

"Well," I asked. "How do I look?" Matoro's happy smile told me all I needed to know.

"You look beautiful, as always." With that he hugged me. "Let's go show your dad." With that we began to walk back to the helm. Suddenly a voice rang out from the darkness.

"That was disgustingly mushy… I feel like throwing up." We both turned to see a creature step out of the shadows. He looked just like Matoro except that he was midnight black from head to toe. This made his ice blue eyes stand out even more. "I much as I'd like to congratulate the happy couple I think that I would most likely have to do something pretty violet afterward to return the universe to balance." Before I could do anything he had knocked Matoro down and was holding a strange looking device to my head. Matoro froze when he saw it.

"No, don't shoot!" The black Matoro laughed.

"I can see that you're worried what a zamor sphere could do to a human. I would hate to have to use it… so don't make me." He snarled.

"What do you want?" Matoro asked quietly. I could tell that he was dying to stop this person.

"Oh, nothing much, just your head on a silver platter. But I'm sporting enough that I don't want to just sacrifice yourself to me… I want you to fight me with all you have, and then die anyway." My dad, hearing the commotion ran over.

"Matoro! What's going on?" The shadow creature pulled me closer.

"Hi yah pops… I'm just kidnapping your daughter so that I get a good fight out of Matoro here." Dad's face turned pale. "So, Matoro, meet me at the eastern air temple in four days… if you don't show up then cutie here is going to take a very short trip to the bottom of the ocean. See you soon hero!" With that he grabbed me and jumped. I thought we were going to die when there was a small explosion on his back and we began to fly. We landed on an airship and I was passed to the mysterious warrior who had been helping Mai earlier.

"Well, hello there Katara… fancy you being here. What a lovely necklace… I always thought that the little airbender would get you… guess him dying messed that up." I was shocked. I had heard that voice before. I quickly reached up and pulled away the mask. I gasped at the face underneath.

"Jet? How is that possible? We thought that you died!"

"I almost did, but I was captured by the Dai-Lee and brainwashed again. But thanks to this 'Shadow' I have my own mind again. I can see that my death didn't weigh very heavily on your mind at least. That's cold Katara… I might have to punish you for that." The crazy freedom fighter grinned at me. I was shocked and almost fainted. But then I heard Matoro yelling at the top of his lungs.

"Katara! I AM going to save you… don't worry, I WILL save you!" I felt hope begin to rise in my chest once again. I turned to the strange being who had kidnapped me.

"See, he will come after you. He'll do anything to save me!" I thought this would scare him, but all he did was grin.

"Good, that's precisely what I want him to do!"

…

Matoro

I hit the side of the ship in anger.

"How, how could a shadow form get here?" Hakoda grabbed my shoulder and shook me.

"Wake up Matoro! We need to save Katara!" I nodded.

"You're right, let's start heading for the temple." As we sailed he looked at me.

"What was that thing? It looked like you."

"That's because it almost was me…" I explained. "It's a shadow form, my evil side created to try to destroy the good in me, every toa has one. I never fought mine in Bionicle, but I have no idea how it got here..." Hakoda looked shocked, but I had no time to worry about that now. All I knew was that Katara was in danger. A brief thought of the Mask of Time entered my mind and I pushed it aside. I didn't care about the mask right now; all I cared about was saving Katara. And I would kill anything that got in my way or tried to hurt her. It was time I stopped thinking like a savior and started thinking like a hero, Katara's hero. I knew that I was putting the world at risk… but I didn't really care. I guess that love does make you go crazy.

…

Katara

I was tied up and my water flask was taken away. The strange boy who looked like Matoro was admiring my necklace.

"Hmmm, crystalline protodermis, I bet that Matoro passed out trying to mark this." I glared at him in anger.

"How did you get an airship?" I asked.

"Oh, this? I stole one from the fire nation." I was shocked. I thought that the inventor had never given the airship to the fire nation. How could they have figured it out by themselves?

"But, what about those weird weapons… how did Matoro know what they were?" The grin on his face just got bigger.

"He knew what they were because he used to use them… back when he was a toa. They're called zamor sphere launchers. They lunch three types of spheres. The green one can control minds, the blue one cures mind control… and the orange ones create big holes in your enemies!" He laughed in wicked glee. "It just so happened that the airship was outfitted with them."

"But, if they're from Matoro's world how did the fire nation get them?" I asked in shock.

"You poor little girl, the fire nation has new allies… beings so powerful that a goody two shoes like Matoro could never defeat them… but I can." He grinned and turned to Jet. "Isn't that right Jet?"

"You bet!" He answered enthusiastically.

"Jet you can't seriously believe him, can you?" I asked. "What about your freedom fighters? Where are they?"

"I'll save them after we crush the fire nation." He answered. "Don't you see Katara; this is the right thing to do. If we destroy the fire nation then everything is happy again. You're the selfish one for wanting to keep someone alive who can save the world by dying." I stared at him in shock. He had really lost it this time. If this shadow was an evil form of Matoro then yes he could bring down the fire nation. But thousands would die in the process.

"This is not the way to do it." I tried to convince him.

"Yeah? Well the Avatar isn't here to do it any other way!" Jet yelled at me. "You should ask your boyfriend how he plans on beating the fire lord. I bet that it isn't at a game of chess!" I turned away from him.

"He's not my boyfriend…" I whispered.

"What was that?" the shadow laughed as he leaned in closer to hear what I was saying.

"I said, he's not my boyfriend… he's my fiancé!" I yelled in his face. I was so loud that he jumped back in shock. I glared at him in anger. "I don't know what kind of twisted creature you are, but I do know that you're no match for the real Matoro. He will find me and then you, and possibly you," I glared at Jet "will die!" They looked at each other and broke out laughing. I turned away and looked back at the small ship that was getting smaller as we picked up speed. "He will come after me." I whispered to myself. No matter what happened I would have hope.

…

Sokka and the others barely made it into a small abandoned shack before another fire nation patrol walked by. They all breathed a sigh of relief.

"This much security is highly unusual… I think we might have picked the right place to go." Umbra remarked as he locked the door. Sokka nodded.

"It certainly looks that way, we've only got a few days till the eclipse, we'll need to work fast." The others nodded. If Ba Sin Se and the world were to remain safe they didn't have a choice.

* * *

Author's note: Wow, things are really going fast. Good thing I have some other things planned for this story, (Lhikan will never forgive me, really, he never will)


	15. Inside Ba Sin Se

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 14

Inside Ba Sin Se

Umbra peeked his head out of a little shack to check the area. Seeing no guards he ducked back in and closed the door. He sighed out loud and frowned at Mai and Ty Lee.

"I know that we need food but are you sure that this is necessary?"

"Oh, definitely… we have to go to the market to get it." Ty Lee insisted.

"I would have been easier for me to go and grab some from all of those farms that we passed though a few nights ago." Umbra grumbled out loud, this earned him a slap from Ty Lee.

"We do not steal! These poor people are having a hard enough time without us taking away their food supply!" Umbra put his hand to his cheek in shock.

"Ok Ty Lee… I think that Umbra gets it. Give him some slack; alright… he is new to this world after all." Mai said as she took Umbra's arm and lead him out of the shack. Umbra was still in shock about being slapped so he didn't object when she put her arm in his as they were walking.

"She HIT me… do you know how long it has been that someone actually HIT me. And then she just goes and does it! A little kid like her, I must be losing my touch."

"She's not a little kid; she's only a year younger than you." Umbra glanced at the happily bouncing Ty Lee who was following them. He then noticed how close Mai was.

"Um, Mai, is it really necessary for you to hold my arm like that?"

"Sokka said that the two of us should lighten up to blend in. I figure that this would be as good a way as any to do it." Umbra tried to wiggle his arm lose but Mai had a strong grip on it. "Why? What's wrong with this?"

"Nothing…" He replied, "It's just that… you're dating Zuko..." Mai snorted.

"Unless he can come up with something impressive as an apology then I'll be single pretty soon." Umbra shook his head to clear it. They had slowly gotten out of the slums and into the busier market center. Ty Lee was already bouncing from stall to stall buying food.

"How are you and Ty Lee doing?" Umbra asked.

"Good, very good," Mai smiled. "She pretty much forgave me on the spot when she realized what Azula did to me, she couldn't stop apologizing. I think that she's just happy that you were able to get me out of that slump."

"Yeah… how did you do that?" asked Ty Lee as she ran up with a full basket and handed another one to Umbra to carry. "I could never get Mai out of a funk." Umbra shrugged.

"I guess that I just understood what she was going though, and that trying to kill you wasn't the right response." Umbra stopped suddenly, they had been walking back and he noticed eight large and rough looking men were barring their way. "That's not good." He whispered to himself. He shook himself free of Mai's arm and stepped in front of the girls.

"What's up?" Ty Lee asked with big eyes.

"Nothing you need to worry your head about… just let me handle this." Umbra smiled at her. He then took a step closer and addressed the men. "Gentlemen, we are passing this way so could you please move?" The tallest of them sneered and elbowed his buddy before taking a step closer.

"Well, aint he polite, eh boys? I'll tell you what little man; I'll let you pass as long as you leave the girls and the food here with us. We've been without a little entertainment lately and could use some company." The others grinned and chuckled. Umbra nodded and handed his basket to Mai.

"Could you hold this? I'll only be a second." With that he took another stride forward. "Tell you what… You let us pass and I MIGHT not hurt you for insulting these young ladies good names." The men grinned at each other. A scrawny guy like him would never be beat them. They pulled out clubs and their leader used earthbending to close off any escape for the three travelers. He grinned as Ty Lee's eyes grew wide with fear and Mai began to sweat. She didn't have any of her daggers with her. They had agreed not to carry weapons in the city so that they would not be too suspicious. Umbra cracked his neck and took a defensive stance.

"Hey, take a look boys, the little man wants to fight!" Their leader laughed. "Perhaps he's hoping that we'll go easy on him."

"I'm warning you… take one step closer and I will drop you." Umbra calmly said as they began to inch forward.

"And who are you to be passing out threats like that?" asked one of the men as he took that one more step. Suddenly Umbra was right in front of him staring into his eyes.

"My name is Umbra… and I don't make threats… I make promises." With that Umbra's leg came up and kicked the man into a nearby wall. "Who's next?" The remaining men were too shocked to move until their leader called out to them.

"Come on you chickens… he's only one boy!" with that they fell upon him. In seconds two more of them were down. They grunted in frustration, why couldn't they hit this boy! He seemed to be everywhere at once. Umbra did a spinning kick and leveled another of the thugs. He then proceeded to dodge the large mound of earth that the leader sent at him. But when he landed the ground turned to quicksand under his feet. The remaining four all attacked at once, they never saw what hit them. When they later tried to figure out how the boy managed to escape the trap and take them all down in less than a second they couldn't imagine how he did it. The last thing they all remember seeing was the kid stuck up to his waist in quicksand, and then there had been a bright flash of light and they had woken up in a heap. They later agreed that they must have had too much to drink and just fainted from all the action. Any other possible scenario was just way too crazy.

…

Sokka looked up from a map of the city as Umbra, Mai and Ty Lee returned with the food.

"Oh, good, you're back. Have any trouble getting the supplies."

"Not really." Umbra shrugged. "Nothing I couldn't handle anyway." Sokka nodded, he knew enough to leave it at that. Most likely Umbra had done something amazing and was playing it down purely because he did stuff like that every day. The water tribe warrior continued looking at the map. He was trying to figure out where to search next. Solek and Suki were currently searching the far side of the city and Toph and Momo had gone to search the wall around the city.

"Umbra, would you mind taking watch?" Sokka asked.

"Not at all." Umbra nodded and left the room. Sokka looked up at Mai.

"I need you to do something."

"What?" Mai asked in surprise.

"Something's been bothering Umbra, could you find out what it is for me?" Mai thought about it for a second and concluded that he had been quiet lately.

"Why me?" she asked. "Couldn't you or Ty Lee do it?" Sokka looked up from the map and looked her in the eyes.

"Because he seems to open up to you, I could do it but there is no guarantee that he will answer. I would like for you to figure out what it is. We need him focused for this mission to succeed."

…

Mai walked up to the upper floor. Umbra was sitting in front of the window looking out. He turned to see who had come up and nodded at her before continuing his scanning. She sighed… this was not going to be easy.

"Umbra, what wrong?" He started and looked at her strangely.

"What makes you think that something is wrong?" He asked nervously.

"Your reaction for one thing, it's highly suspicious." Mai leaned on the window sill next to him. "I don't know if this is what you are usually like but you seem afraid to enjoy yourself… even with me." His eyes grew dark and he looked away.

"I'm afraid of getting too used to life here… when this mission is over I'll have either have helped recover the mask or died trying. If I live the only thing I have to look forward to is going back to my old life. I will never be able to come back, or have a real friend again." Mai looked at him in surprise, was that all?

"Then why are you afraid of enjoying it now?" She asked as she leaned closer. "What are you afraid of?"

"I… I don't want to like it here. Because then I won't want to leave… and I have to leave. My life is not my own. I am a servant of the Order of Mata Nui. I go where I am sent and complete missions for them. I can't just quit my job, I was CREATED to do it!" He gripped the windowsill until his knuckles turned white. "These last few days have been the best in my entire life… but I know they must end. That's why I can't let myself get close to anyone here, because as soon as the mask is found… it's all over." Mai leaned in closer until their faces were mere inches apart.

"So why not enjoy it now, while you have the chance?" She whispered. Umbra looked away.

"Mai, I am on guard duty and you are distracting me, could you please leave?" Mai stood up and sighed, it had been worth the try.

"Don't get yourself down Umbra… I've been there, it's not worth it." With that she walked out of the room. Umbra looked at his hands in dejection and whispered to himself.

"But you're the reason I don't want to leave…"

…

Solek

I was on a mission, an important mission; I could not allow myself to be distracted, by anything. I needed to find Voporak and tell the others. It would be my first heroic act. I was doing fine until Suki asked me a question out of the blue.

"So… what do you think of Toph?"

"What… huh?" was all I could manage to get out as I walked into a wall... so much for keeping my cool. "Umm, she's nice?" I answered uncertainly, rubbing my nose where it had hit.

"Oh, that's not a real answer. Does love exist in you world or are both you and Matoro just innocent guys who have never had to worry about it before?" Suki teased me.

"I would put my widgets on the second one." I smiled back. "Is it that obvious that I like her?" Suki nodded.

"I think that if she could see then she would know already, but there are some things that you can't sense though the ground." She said.

"This body does something to my head for sure. I'm not quite sure what's going on and I'm not positive that it's good." I winced. I thought I had been more discreet then that.

"It's called puberty… everyone has to go through it." Suki looked at me and smiled. "At least you were really mature to begin with so you can most likely hold it back a little." Great… it was going to get worse. I was about to ask a question when I noticed a strange mark on a nearby wall. I ran over to check it and confirmed my suspicions.

"Suki, come look at this!" I called out excitedly. "This piece of the wall is older than the other!" She came and took a good look at it.

"You're right! It is… but, what does that mean?"

"I mean," I answered, "That unless the fire nation likes putting old stone next to brand new stone then we have a temporal anomaly in this city. Most likely a temporal anomaly called Voporak!" With that I got up and started to run back to the base, we needed to tell Sokka, and fast. I was running so fast that I bumped into a cart that was sitting in the middle of the road and overturned it, it was loaded with cabbages. A funny looking man ran over.

"MY CABBAGES!" he cried in dismay as he tried to pick them up.

"Sorry!" I called back as I continued on my way… some things were worth hurrying for. If Voporak was here then the Shadowed One was surely not very far behind.

…

Toph arrived about the same time as Solek and Suki and had equally bad news.

"The guards were talking about how four figures broke in earlier yesterday; they were able to take out an entire platoon of firebenders!" Sokka took one look at Toph and turned to Umbra.

"Go get the others, the bad guys aren't waiting for us to get started… we need to act now!" Umbra nodded and was gone in a flash of light. Sokka looked at the others.

"This is it, we need to move on the inner wall and open the gates for Axonn and the others, any ideas how we can do that?" Solek raised his hand.

"I have an idea." He grinned.

…

The Shadowed One looked down from the balcony of the earth kingdom palace. He had also infiltrated the city and had been searching for Voporak. He turned as Lurker entered the room. He nodded for his warrior to tell him what he had found.

"Master, we have found signs of Voporak in the lower level of the city moving towards the Noble's Quarter. I suggest that we move on it at once. We have also seen signs of beings with great power in the area. It is possible that the Order of Mata Nui sent some of their agents to stop us." The Shadowed One nodded, he had been expecting this. He was about to give the order to move out when there was a loud explosion in the lower city. The Dark Hunters looked out in surprise to see the fire nation troops running to deal with the problem.

"Devastator, Lurker, go find out what's going on down there… Darkness you come with me." As his men began to move out the Shadowed One wondered what in the world was going on down there.

…

Solek's plan had been simple, create a distraction and open the gate while the fire nation was busy dealing with it. Sokka had even let him and Toph create the distraction. However it would be harder to tell who was more surprised with their idea, Sokka or the fire nation.

"They stole a TANK!" Sokka gasped in surprise as Ty Lee come back from her scouting mission. She nodded.

"Yup, apparently they really took this distraction thing to heart." Sokka shook his head, they had wanted a distraction, and they got one.

"Come on guys; let's go get the doors open so that those two don't have all the fun without us! Remember, the eclipse is coming fast!" Everyone nodded and ran for the inner wall. This was it; the liberation of Ba Sin Se was on!

…

To say that Solek and Toph were having fun with their job would be putting it lightly. They literally pulverized any important looking buildings in their way to the Noble's District. They also accidentally ran over a cabbage cart, but no one really cared about that. Solek whooped as he saw the large gates to the Nobles Quarter coming up.

"Yeah! This is the most fun I have ever had!" Toph grinned as she launched another rock out the turret and smashed the gates off of their hinges.

"This is nothing… you should try to ride a Kikanolo, when they don't want you to." Solek grinned. "So, do you think we've distracted them enough?"

"Sure looks like it." Laughed Toph, suddenly she felt something ahead. "Who's that?" Solek looked out the window and grew white.

"Uh, that's the Shadowed One… the most powerful Dark Hunter in the world." Toph turned towards Solek.

"Um, should we run?"

"Yeah, we should run." They might have gotten away except for Devastator. He had turned to sand and struck the tank from underneath. The tank went flying and without Toph's metalbending they would have been badly hurt. As it was they barely escaped the tank before it exploded. Solek quickly stood up and faced the large Dark Hunter.

"Toph, get out of here." He commanded.

"No way, I'm not leaving you!" She tried to stand next to him only to be pushed back. Solek turned and faced her. His eyes were glowing with energy.

"Toph, that was not a request, go get help! I'm going to need it!" Toph understood and ran towards where the others were. Solek turned around and faced his opponents. "Now then," he said with more bravado then he felt. "Who's first?"

…

Axonn was watching the wall when suddenly Umbra appeared next to him.

"Voporak is in the city… and so is the Shadowed One, we need to move fast!" Axonn nodded and called for the others.

"Brutaka, firebenders, it's time to strike!" Zuko and Iroh came running up.

"What are we going to do about the wall?" asked Iroh. "I've tried to get though it before and it's not an easy thing to do." Brutaka smiled and raised his blade.

"This is what we're going to do about the wall!" With that he let lose a massive energy blast. The outer wall of Ba Sin Se began to buckle under the massive strength of the blast and finally collapsed. The five warriors ran in. They barely gave the shocked firebenders a second glance as they ran for the train. After they got on Umbra grabbed the back and pushed it at an incredible speed towards the inner city. When they got there they found Sokka and the others battling the fire nation troops and the Dai-Lee. The fire nation warriors turned and ran as soon as they saw the two massive warriors exit the train. They Dai-Lee, however, made the mistake of trying to attack them. In a few seconds they had all been killed. Brutaka scoffed at their mangled bodies.

"Fools, they should have realized when they were outclassed." Just then Toph ran up breathing hard.

"Solek, he's in trouble." She gasped out. "He found the Dark Hunters." Sokka didn't even hesitate.

"Come on! We need to save him!" They ran towards the inner city. Most guards stayed out of their way as they got deeper into the city. The few who did try to stop them were quickly defeated. They reached the inner city wall just in time to see the Shadowed One cover Solek in crystalline protodermis from his staff.

"SOLEK!" screamed Toph. "He can't breathe in there." Brutaka frowned. He really didn't like the little Matoran, but they needed all the help they could get. He hit the cage with another energy blast. Solek screamed. The energy blast from Brutaka had freed him from the prison of crystalline protodermis, but instead of shattering the cage it had melted it into energized protodermis. Toph watched in horror as one of her best friends suddenly writhed in agony. Something was changing, as Solek screamed he grasped the ground as if trying to hold something inside of him. Axonn took one look at him and paled.

"Brutaka, what have you done?" He quietly asked the large warrior. Even Brutaka looked scared as he answered.

"It… it was an accident I was just trying to free him, I didn't know that he'd go Kal! I didn't even know that he could!"

"What… what is happening to him?" Toph yelled at the two giants.

"Certain Av-Matoran were called to change forms." Axonn explained. "They became mechanical beings called Bohrok. If a Bohrok encountered energized protodermis then it would become a Bohrok-Kal and be given access to amazing power. I didn't know that energized protodermis could activate the transformation from the Matoran stage." Toph felt a cold chill run down her spine.

"How can we stop it from happening?" She asked.

"We can't," Said Brutaka, "and that's not the worst part."

"What's the worst part?" Zuko asked quietly.

"Bohrok have only one duty, destroy everything in sight." Answered Umbra as he walked over, even the Dark Hunters had stopped attacking and were gathered around their leader as if to protect him. Just then Solek stopped screaming. He stood up and looked at the figures gathered around him. Ty Lee gasped; his arm and one of his eyes had already changed to mechanical form. Solek raised his bionic arm and unleashed a blast of sonic energy. It demolished the nearby Dai-Lee headquarters as if it was made from paper.

"Oh great… he had to be a Kohrak-Kal!" Brutaka groaned as he readied his blade. "We'll have to make this quick." Toph looked at him sharply

"What? You're going to kill him?" She yelled.

"What else do you want us to do? Didn't you see what he did to that building over there? Do you want him to do that to the entire world? Out only hope is to take him out before the transformation is complete." With that Brutaka launched himself at Solek.

"NO!" yelled Toph. But she needn't have worried; Brutaka's attack never hit Solek. Solek didn't even move, he just created a sonic wall between himself and Brutaka. The massive warrior was sent spinning. When he tried to stand up he found that he couldn't, mostly because Solek had generated a sonic blade at the end of his bionic arm and was holding it to his neck.

"You are attempting to interfere with the mission… the mission must not be stopped; this action makes you a threat. All threats will be eliminated. This is the order of the queens, and so it must be done." With that he pulled back his arm to stab Brutaka, only to have Toph hold it back.

"Solek, why are you doing this?" Cried Toph, she was shocked when Solek threw her away and turned to face her.

"Solek is gone… There is only, Kohrak-Kal!"

* * *

Author's note: Ok, I know that I'm probably stretching the Av-Matoran/Bohrok transformation a little bit... but hey, there are fewer things cooler then a Bohrok-Kal on a rampage. Please review.


	16. Bohrok Kal

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 15

Bohrok-Kal

Azula walked into the throne room and bowed before her father.

"Greetings father, the counsel wishes to see you in the war room. They have heard rumors that there is a faction of firebenders who wish to replace you during the eclipse." Ozai stood up in fury.

"Really, let us go and see what they have found out." He walked out of the room followed by his guards. Azula smiled. She followed her father until he had entered the war room and then nodded to the Dai-Lee guards that she kept with her everywhere. They quickly defeated the fire lord's guards and four more of them appeared from the shadows and tried to contain the fire lord. He quickly killed them and turned to face his daughter. "Azula! What is the meaning of this?" Azula smiled as the shadows behind her father darkened.

"It's just that, I've been thinking, I could do a much better job of ruling the fire nation than you." Ozai roared in fury and tried to incinerate his daughter, only to find that his hands had been bound by shadow energy. The shadows continued to grow over his entire body until only his head was visible.

"What, what is happening to me?" he cried out in fear as a strange man came out of the shadows. Mutran smiled at his latest lab rat before answering.

"You, my good fire lord, have been replaced. But don't worry; death is still a long way away… assuming that you can survive what I'm going to do to you." Ozai's eyes became filled with fear as the shadows covered him entirely. Mutran turned to Azula.

"Good work, now get him out of her before anyone sees him!" She ordered. Mutran forced himself to smile and took a secret passage back to his lab. How dare she order him around? Oh well, things would soon change. He grinned in anticipation of what he was going to do to the fire lord. Being an evil scientist was the most fun thing in the entire world to him. Azula turned to see several guards approaching.

"Princess, we found the counsel dead in their chambers! We fear for your father, do you know where he is?" The leader asked quickly.

"He was just killed…" Azula cried. She was a very good actor so it wasn't hard to make herself cry false tears. "It was a band of rogue firebenders… they were being lead by my brother!" The guards looked scared. The leader gave orders quickly.

"You two, alert the barracks, we need back up! The rest of you stay here with me… we need to protect the princess!" They quickly set about their duties. Azula inwardly grinned, her plan was going perfectly. Soon she would be ruler of the fire nation, and heaven help anyone who tried to stop her then!

…

Solek

I screamed. I could feel the energized protodermis being absorbed into my body. In a second I was no longer in control of my body. I looked around and saw that I was inside of my mind. I took a moment to get my bearings.

"Wow," I said aloud. "I never knew that my mind had so much room in it!"

"That is because you have a very small brain." I turned to see a Bohrok-Kal walk up behind me.

"What, what are you doing in my head?" I asked it.

"It is no longer your head… it is mine." He stated matter-of-factly. "The transformation is complete. It is time for you to go to your eternal rest." I was shocked. I had turned into a Bohrok! Part of me was jumping up and down with how awesome that was, but most of me was gasping in shock and horror when I realized what a Bohrok-Kal could do to this world.

"Wait, I can't let you take over. There's so much I haven't done yet!" The Kal shrugged.

"Not my problem, I must find the queens and free them. Anyone who interferes will be destroyed." I paled as I realized what he was saying. If anyone who would try to stop him would die then that meant that my friends were going to die.

"No! I won't allow it!" I yelled as I attempted to generate my light blades. I was shocked when nothing happened. The Kal shock his head at me.

"You don't get it, do you? You have no more power. You have lost."

…

The Bohrok-Kal turned away from Toph and looked at Brutaka.

"Tell me, giant, where are the queens!" He asked. Brutaka actually laughed.

"The queens are in a different world you fool!" He sneered. This made the Kohrak-Kal send him flying into the wall with a blast of sonic energy.

"If you will not tell me then I will destroy this world looking for them." It quietly stated. Suddenly Umbra was right in front of it and attacked him. The Kohrak reacted quickly and dodged his attack. Zuko's mouth dropped as a high speed fight took place. Umbra was undoubtedly faster but he wasn't trying to kill Solek. This meant that he was slowing himself down to the speed of sound in order to fight the Kohrak. Something the strange being was taking full advantage of. Umbra was caught between a desire to save the Matoran and the realization that he would have to stop him to protect Mai. Umbra slapped himself mid-fight, no, not to protect Mai, to protect the mask, you have to protect the mask! He admonished himself. This moment of indecision made him slow down a fraction. The Kohrak-Kal noticed this and hit him with a massive sound wave. Umbra was spent spinning and hit the ground with a loud groan.

"Umbra!" Mai cried out as she tried to run to his side. Zuko pulled her back at the last second and saved her from being sliced in half with the Kohrak-Kal's sonic blade. Axonn tried to stop the rampaging Kohrak but was pushed aside as if he was nothing. The Dark Hunters were staying out of the fight, they knew better then to fight something like this.

…

Somewhere nearby a large figure stirred. Voporak felt the presence of his master. He quickly stood up and began heading toward the position where he knew that his master was. Soon he would be able to rest.

…

The Kohrak-Kal seemed to have lost interest in the few remaining warriors and continued destroying anything and everything he could see. Mai broke from Zuko's grasp and ran over to Umbra.

"Umbra? Umbra, speak to me!" She almost cried in relief when Umbra coughed and sat up.

"What, what's happening?" He said as he shook his head in an attempt to stop the pain.

"Solek is destroying everything in sight and… what's that?" Umbra looked at what she was pointing at and paled. It was a large being. He barely looked human with his four arms and hunched back. There was only one being that it could be.

"It's Voporak… the bearer of the Mask of Time!" The Shadowed One saw him as well.

"Voporak! Come and give your master his mask!" He cried out. Voporak tried to walk over but suddenly the Kohrak-Kal was in front of him.

"You are carrying something that is a threat to the queens… all threats must be destroyed!" With that it sent massive sonic blasts at Voporak. The giant had the intelligence to protect the mask from direct attack but he didn't dodge, after all, what could a small boy do to him? He found out seconds later when he was knocked down by a blast of sound. The giant stood back up and roared in fury. No one had ever touched him! His time field automatically aged anything that came within a certain distance of him. But sound can't age. He attacked the Kal and even managed to grab the small warrior. He was shocked when his powers did nothing to it. The Kal cut off one of his smaller arms and dropped to the ground.

* * *

Author's note: The Bohrok-Kal are actually immune to temporal attacks. If you don't believe me look it up, it's in the comics. The Mask of Time had no effect on them.

* * *

Voporak screamed in pain. He had never felt this much pain before. Enraged, he tried to crush the Kal in his arms. He felt a stab to his chest and fell back. He gasped for air as the Kal stood over him and took the mask. Voporak felt a kind of peace fall over him as his life slipped away. He could finally rest. The Kal held the mask in his hand and looked at it. He was about to crush it when a slab of earth knocked it from his hands. He turned to see Toph catch it.

"Hand me the mask!" He ordered.

"If you want it, come and take it!" Toph yelled mockingly. "That is if you're not chicken!"

"Toph, what are you doing?" asked Sokka in fear.

"I need to see if there is any shred of Solek left in him… I might be able to get to it!" The Kal ran and jumped at her swinging his sword down at her, Toph didn't move. "I need to know this!" she whispered to herself.

…

Solek

I could see everything but I couldn't do anything about it. I saw the Kal beat Voporak (that was so cool) and watched as he took the mask. I cheered for Toph when she took the mask, but stopped when I saw what she intended to do with it.

"Wait… NO!" I threw myself at the Kal in my mind. "You are not going to hurt Toph!" He barely gave me a glance before hitting me with a sonic blast. I hit the ground in frustration. I had no powers, no weapons, and no friends to help me. The fate of the world and my friends was entirely up to me. I slowly stood up. I knew that as long as I was in my body there was hope. I concentrated and reached out around me with my mind. I felt some pain as I begun to change. The Kal turned around and stared at me in shock. My arm and eye had changed to match that of my body outside.

"What… how are you doing that?" He asked.

"This is my body… those are my friends, I will NOT allow you to hurt them!" I yelled as I sent a sonic blast at him. "Sweet!" I exclaimed. "Looks like the powers are back on." I took a ready stance and drove a sonic blade into his arm.

…

The Kal suddenly stopped and screamed in pain. The transformation began to reverse itself and it sent sonic energy around wildly. Lurker and Devastator weren't fast enough and were smashed into the wall by the massive amount of energy. Everyone ran for cover, expect Toph.

"Come on Solek," She whispered. "Fight it!"

…

Solek

The Kal fell back under my onslaught.

"Impressive," he admitted as he blocked one of my attacks. "You've embraced your new powers, but even that is not enough to stop me. Becoming a Kal is part of your destiny, and you can't fight that!" I paused attacking him to give him my answer.

"Let me tell you something. I've learned that one thing that humans seem to enjoy doing is fighting their own destinies. But even without that I know that it is not my destiny to become a Bohrok-Kal… this world has no need for one!" I resumed attacking and sliced off one of his robotic arms.

…

One of Solek's arms and most of his waist was back to normal and the rest of the transformation was swiftly retreating.

"Come on Solek!" yelled Toph. "FIGHT IT!"

"You can do it Solek!" Yelled Suki, suddenly the entire battled field erupted in a frenzy of cheering as Sokka and the others joined in.

"Come on!"

"You've almost got him!"

"Keep at it!"

…

Solek

I grinned as I heard my friends cheering.

"You hear that?" I asked the Kal. "That is my friends; they want me back… that is why I will never give up!" I attacked again, this time with more fury. In seconds he was entirely without limbs and I raised my arm for the killing strike.

"If you kill me there is no guaranty that you'll be able to regain control of your body!" He gasped out. I paused… and then I plunged my sonic blade into his robotic heart.

"I don't care…" I whispered in his ear as the last of his life drained out of him. "All I care about is being able to help my friends." The Kal stared at me in confusion as his eyes grew darker.

"But… that does not… does not… compute." With that he died, and I was alone.

…

With a final screech the Kal fell to the ground and lay still. Only one of his arms and an eye had not changed back. Toph threw away the mask and ran over to Solek.

"Solek… Solek, speak to me!" she whispered in desperation as her friend did nothing. Then one of his eyes opened.

"Toph… are you ok?" he asked.

"Yes, thanks to you." She smiled.

"Good, I didn't want you to get hurt." With that he collapsed into her arms and his eyes grew dark.

"SOLEK!" Toph cried in horror. She sobbed and cradled his head in her arms. It just wasn't possible, he couldn't be gone. Then, she felt a heartbeat. Toph gasped and put her head next to his chest. Yes, there was a heartbeat! And he was breathing, if only shallowly. Toph sighed in relief, he hadn't died, Solek was just in a coma. Suddenly all of Karzahni's realm broke loose. All of the Dark Hunters launched themselves at the Mask of Time, which was sitting unguarded on the pavement. Lurker almost grabbed it when Axonn grabbed one of his tails and threw him across the courtyard. Devastator grinned at didn't even go after the mask, instead choosing to attack Brutaka. Brutaka dodged several large chunks of buildings that Devastator sent at him and countered with an energy blast. Meanwhile Umbra had his hands full taking on both Darkness and keeping the Shadowed One Away from the mask. Lurker tried to find a chink in Axonn's armor to sink his poisoned stingers in. Axonn dodged around as much as he could but he was not built for dodging. When he saw his chance his axe around and sliced the stingers off of the tails. Lurker screamed in rage and tried to claw the hated axe wielding warrior. Axonn retaliated with a punch that sent Lurker across the city until he hit the inner wall and fell with a sickening crunch to the ground. Meanwhile, Brutaka had grown tired of Devastator hitting him from below with his sand form and he used his sword to slice the ground in half, the attacks stopped. The Shadowed One realized what was going on, he was losing. He quickly yelled at Darkness while throwing himself at the Mask of Time.

"Kill the girl!" Darkness sped to Mai's side and knocked Zuko out of the way. Umbra froze, he was the only one fast enough to save Mai, but he also had to protect the Mask of Time. Even with all of his speed he couldn't be in two places at once… what should he do?

…

Matoro helped pull the skiff into a small harbor nearby the eastern air temple. Hakoda was packing his weapons when Matoro stopped him.

"Hakoda, there is no way that you would have any chance at all against Shadow." Hakoda still picked up his spear.

"I know that… I plan on attempting to rescue Katara while you're fighting." Matoro nodded in relief. He had worried that with two people to worry about he might have been distracted in the upcoming battle. As Matoro turned to walk towards the temple Hakoda put his hand on his shoulder. "Matoro, I know I don't need to say this but… could you do your best not to die?" Matoro nodded.

"I will not lose to him, but I will do anything necessary to take him out." He turned to Hakoda. "If I don't make it out of this then, please, apologize and tell Katara I love her." Hakoda shook his head and smiled.

"I'm not going to tell her that… you are, for years to come, if you don't live though it then Katara will never forgive either of us, so make sure not to die." Matoro smiled.

"Ok, I will."

…

Shadow slowly flew the ship towards the eastern air temple. He taunted Katara as the time of the battle grew closer.

"Hey, Katara, what color to you think Matoro's blood will be? He wasn't always human after all; it might be any color besides red." Katara glared at him. "Still not talking I see, pity, I wanted to hear you beg for your love's life."

"I won't have to do that!" She snarled at him. "He's going to take you down if it's the last thing he does!" Shadow laughed.

"That's impossible; He'll never manage to beat me. Even if he does he will most likely lose his life in the process." Shadow grinned roguishly at Katara. "Either way… I win." Katara looked away and saw the eastern air temple in the distance. She could even see a small figure standing on the top of it… Matoro. He glared at the airship as if he could cause the horrible men who kidnapped her to die by mere thought. Shadow grinned and handed the helm to Jet. "And so it begins." He smiled before jumping off of the ship

…

With all of this action and drama going on no one was really paying attention to the events that started to play out on Ember Island. A portal was opening. It was not as large as one of Brutaka's or as neat. He should have been able to sense it but at that very moment he was yelling at Umbra to save the Mask of Time. The portal almost seemed to fail when a hand punched through it, the metal and bionic material slowly turning to flesh and bone. The hand was holding a large stone very tightly. The stone started to glow as it began absorbing an enormous amount of energy from the world around it. More of the hand came though until the head of a very attractive woman was visible. Seconds later her entire body fell out of the portal and it closed behind her. The woman stood up and held the stone as if it was her baby. It glowed red with all the energy it was absorbing. She cooed to it as if it was a real thing.

"Yes, there is a lot of elemental energy here… isn't there? Feed on it, drain it for me, my Nui Stone!" She laughed maniacally as she fed on the power that the stone was absorbing. This world would soon tremble.

* * *

Author's note: I seem to like cliff hangers, don't I? Don't worry, it;s all going somewhere. Please review... (ten extra points for anyone who can guess who the new addition is)


	17. The Battle

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: Hope that you readers are on the edges of your seats because here comes the fight that (hopefully) you've all been waiting for. Please read and review.

* * *

Chapter 16

The Battle

Matoro watched from the top of the eastern air temple as the airship got closer. He could see Shadow with Katara on the front of the landing dock. Shadow grinned and threw Katara to Jet before jumping and landing just ten feet away from Matoro. The airship started to move away as the two combatants stared each other down. Matoro spoke first.

"Are we going to stand around all day, or are you going to give me Katara?" Shadow grinned maniacally at the question.

"No, we're going to kill each other, correction; I'm going to kill you!" With that he generated an ice axe in each hand and took a ready stance. Matoro drew his sword and created an ice shield on his other arm. They both launched themselves at the other, their super compressed muscles propelling them at speeds not usually reachable by humans.

The clash was epic. Their weapons smashed together as the two toa tried to overpower the other. The surrounding buildings shattered as they froze to below zero in seconds. The sky was crisscrossed with lightning as the two used all of their power on each other. There was no holding back, no attempt to beat the other with skill, only raw power. They finally separated and began to circle each other. Matoro attempted a slash at Shadow's exposed chest only to have the shadow form block him at the last second. This continued for a good two minutes in which both warriors received several cuts and rips from the other. They then clashed again, Shadow's axes coming close to decapitating Matoro who only survived because he ducked at the last second. He countered with a wild stab at Shadow's leg, it connected. The shadow form screamed out in pain as Matoro sent waves of lightning down his sword into his enemy's body. Shadow swung his axes at Matoro's shield and shattered both the shield and the axes. The force of the blow launched the toa though a nearby wall. Matoro struggled to stand up; his organic body was not meant to fight like this.

"What's the matter Matoro… is your body getting tired?" Shadow mocked as he stood up slowly, his body trying to hold itself together. "Too bad you can't do this…" With that Shadow absorbed some shadows from the surrounding area. "I can rebuild my body from the surrounding shadows; you'll never be able to kill me! And when the eclipse finally gets here my power will be increased tenfold!" Shadow laughed manically "I can also do this…" With a wave of his hands Shadow bonded his shadow powers with lightning, creating two shadow whips with electrical energy coursing through them. He began to send them at Matoro with surprising accuracy. Matoro barely dodged one; the other grazed his arm and sent him through yet another wall. The toa struggled to his feet and started to launch hundreds of ice blasts at his shadow form. Shadow dodged most of them; the others crated great rips in his body that were quickly healed before the damage could spread. Matoro became desperate, he was beginning to get tired, his body had been cut by Shadow's axes and the force of being thrown though several walls. His left arm was throbbing, possibly dislocated, from the blow that had shattered his shield. He was bleeding in several places and wondered how much more blood he could lose before he became dizzy. Matoro saw that he was losing, something he could not allow. This world was counting on him, Katara was counting on him. With only the slightest hesitation Matoro pushed past all of the mental blocks that a toa had, and unleashed his true power. The temple began to crumble as the massive power of a fully realized toa in human form struck it. Shadow was driven down through several stories of the temple as Matoro smote him with freezing ice fists, crashing waves of water and searing lightning. The shadow form struggled to fight back, he was just a copy, and no Makuta could ever make a shadow form that was truly equal to its toa. They didn't have enough power.

"How… how can you control water?" he cried out in shock.

"I just learned how… why can't you?" Matoro growled. "Oh, yeah, you're just a stupid copy!" Shadow tried to resist the awesome power, but he couldn't. But then, the eclipse started. The temple shuddered as suddenly Shadow grew several times larger. He absorbed the shadows created by the eclipse and increased both his size and his power level.

"My turn! And this time a little water won't bother me!" laughed the massive shadow form as he unleashed his power against Matoro's. The two beings clashed, one winning for a few seconds and then the other regaining ground. Normally a fight of this scale would have gone on until the eclipse ended, but Matoro knew that he couldn't last that long. In his first attack Shadow had slashed Matoro with an ice blade, it had just grazed him on his side but it had still caused a wound to be opened that was almost deep enough to do permanent damage. Matoro knew that at the rate he was losing blood he wouldn't last much longer. Plus, he was only using one arm; his left arm was definitely dislocated at the shoulder. Matoro began to get dizzy; he had lost too much blood. He was slowly forced back until he was gasping against one of the few remaining walls. Shadow condensed his form until he was the same size as Matoro. He walked over and grabbed the toa by the neck and slammed him into the wall. He smiled at Matoro's strangled gasp as several ribs bruised at the impact. "Foolish Matoro," Shadow gloated, "You never had a chance against me. Shadow forms have always been faced with a team of toa fighting against a team of shadow forms. There has never been a one on one fight, and never in organic bodies that practically crumble at a touch." He dropped Matoro and crated a scythe out of ice and shadow. "You lose toa, I win." With that he swung down at Matoro, intending to chop him in half. But before the weapon could connect a spear suddenly impaled the shadow form from behind. Shadow screeched in pain as he turned to face the new attacker, it was Hakoda.

…

Umbra

Time seemed to freeze; Darkness was mere seconds away from killing Mai, and The Shadowed one was just as close to claiming the mask of time. Brutaka was yelling at me, which was not helping at all.

"Save the mask! Forget the human and save the mask!" I knew my duty; I had to get the mask. My entire life had been spent protecting an artifact just as powerful as this one. I knew what would happen if the mask fell into the wrong hands, this world and possibly mine would fall into chaos. I saw Zuko running to try to help Mai; he wouldn't make it in time, only I could. I looked at Mai… she was smiling, tears falling down her eyes as she realized what I was going through. Our eyes locked, she wanted me to go after the mask, which was why I couldn't. I decided then and there, I no longer cared what Brutaka and the Order would think of me. If I allowed the one thing I cared for the most to be destroyed I would never be able to live with myself. In a microsecond Mai was in my arms and out of danger. Darkness was staring at the spot where she had been in shock. I hadn't taken my eyes off of Mai's face since I had grabbed her. There were still tears on her face and she looked shocked.

"Umbra… the mask… why did you save me instead of the mask?" I slowly put her down before answering. I decided that it was time to tell her the truth.

"I am sorry Mai, I just couldn't let you die… you're too important to me. I… I couldn't have saved the mask; if I had and you had died… I don't know what I'd do then." I said, looking at my feet. Mai's hands gently pushed my head back up so that she could see my face. She smiled at me.

"I love you to Umbra." Love, was that what this was? All I knew was that those words meant more to me than any I had ever heard before. I stared into her eyes until I realized that Brutaka was yelling at me, again. And, again, it really wasn't helping.

"YOU MASSIVE FOOL!" Brutaka roared as he pointed. I looked, The Shadowed one grinned at me as he put on the mask… had I made the right choice? I decided that it didn't matter. I had made my choice, and now I had to live with it.

…

Katara looked on in horror as Matoro had fallen, but now it looked like her dad was going to take on the shadow form. Shadow tried to pull the spear out but Hakoda cut his right arm off.

"I guess that you can't absorb shadow if you've got a weapon though you." the water tribe chieftain said as he dodged a lightning attack.

"Good observation, old man." Shadow snarled. "But I still have enough power to kill you!" With that Shadow let lose a massive blast of lightning that struck Hakoda squarely on the chest.

"NO!" Screamed two voices in unison as Hakoda fell to the ground. Katara forced herself to break the bonds even though it cut her hands deeply. She was about to go and help Matoro when Jet stepped in her way.

"Oh no you don't!" He laughed as he drew his swords. "I'm sorry Katara, but I can't let you stop Shadow. You'll see… this world will be a hundred times better after he destroys the fire nation. Losing one person to save the entire world is a very small price to pay." Katara actually wasted a second giving him a look of contempt before bending a small tidal wave to push him off the side. She walked over and saw that he was still hanging on.

"Jet, I never thought of you as insane until this moment. Shadow would only make things worse. We don't need to destroy the fire nation; we need to save it, along with the rest of the world!" With that she washed him off of the ship. She didn't even stop to watch him fall before running over to the side. She gasped with shock. Somehow Matoro had stood up. Despite all of his wounds he was standing.

"You will DIE for that!" Matoro screamed as he launched himself at Shadow just as the shadow form was about to finish Hakoda off with the scythe. They struggled for a second until Matoro forced Shadow to the edge of the cliff. "Katara, the spheres, hit him NOW!" Katara ran over to the sphere launcher on the side of the airship and let lose the orange cannonballs at Shadow. It was only after she started the gun that she realized that Matoro was going to get caught in the line of fire.

"Matoro! NO!" Katara screamed. Time seemed to stand still as Matoro looked up at her and their eyes locked. He looked immensely sad, and yet, content. The blast hit Matoro and Shadow and sent them spinning off of the cliff.

"No! It will not end like this!" yelled Shadow. He pushed Matoro away and tried to grab the side. But the toa somehow held on. They fell together into the ocean, and with a massive splash disappeared under the waves. All was silent for a moment before a massive explosion rocked the cliff. The spot where they had fallen sparked with lightning and froze in massive ice spikes for about a minute as the two let lose a final blast of energy before settling down to a deathly quiet. The airship started to collapse as the many holes created by the battle started to take their toll. Katara jumped down next to her father. She quickly checked for a pulse, he had one! It wasn't too late. She tried not to think of Matoro as she quickly set about healing her dad. She needed to focus. She kept telling herself that Matoro could have lived though the fight, it was possible. But she would have to work quickly to save her father or he would die. She begun the healing and was rewarded as her father started coughing. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Katara?" he asked weakly.

"Yes dad, I'm ok." Katara said, tears filling her eyes. She broke down sobbing and pulled her dad into a hug. They stayed like that for several minutes as Katara cried.

…

The Shadowed One

It was mine! Finally after years of chasing the Mask of Time was mine. I laughed as I placed in on my face, now no one could stop me. I could feel the mask's powers flowing though me, it was intoxicating! I turned to my enemies and grinned; now they would all fall.

"Sorry you fools, but your TIME has run out!" I laughed at my own bad pun. "Now, how shall I kill you? Will I make you live out your life in one excruciating second, or should I rather go back in time and make it so that you never existed?" The one called Umbra glared at me and stepped in front of the human he had so foolishly saved, and then he drew his weapon. I almost laughed, was he still planning to fight back. "I guess that I'll kill you first." I tried to hit him with a temporal blast, but he had moved. I frowned, he was just too fast. I felt rather then saw him speed towards me at light speed. Panicking, I tried to stop time within the entire city. However, with my limited skill all I could do was slow the pace of time. Umbra was still coming at me, even with time slowed down almost to a stop he was still moving, but instead of speeding so fast he was invisible he was traveling at normal speed. I tried to hit him with my staff, but he somehow managed to dodge. I was impressed. "You're quite powerful aren't you? To be able to move when time is almost stopped is amazing, why do you work with those who don't appreciate you?" I asked.

"Because there is one that does… I chose to save her over protecting the Mask. And now I will kill you to get it back." I laughed at his assumption.

"You? Kill me? Don't be silly." I sneered. "You are so far below me in power level that you have no chance!"

"Perhaps what you say is true." He said "However, I never draw my weapon unless I plan on killing my opponent." With that he came at me again. I easily dodged his attacks and tried to bind him in crystalline protodermis. I was frustrated when he managed to dodge it once again. I started to worry, it was taking all of my power to control the mask, I barely had anything left to fight him with, and he knew it. I tried to trap him in a temporal collapse but he still dodged. I was breathing hard now, why was it so hard to move my limbs? Umbra easily dodged my feeble attacks. This was infuriating, I finally get ultimate power and I can't use it. It became too hard to stand up, I slowly fell to me knees and stared at my shaking hands.

"What… what is happening to me" I gasped as I saw the reason for my weakness. I was ageing, rapidly. The time stop I had created ended because I couldn't hold it up any more. Umbra stood over me and looked down.

"When Solek attacked Voporak some of the sonic energy must have created a miniscule crack in the mask. When you put it on you actually saved this world by absorbing all of the temporal energy being released from the mask." He stopped and grabbed the mask from my face and snapped it in half. "This mask is now useless, and harmless. I guess that we should thank you for bringing all the pain you wished on us on yourself." I grasped my chest as it became hard to breathe. No, this couldn't happen. I watched as my body grew older right before my eyes. I glanced around, the only dark hunter still standing was Darkness.

"Darkness, kill them! Kill them all!" I rasped. But he didn't follow orders. He began to walk over to me, slowly. I felt my blood grow cold as I realized what he was doing. For the first time in centuries the being known as Darkness spoke.

"And so ends the Shadowed One." His voice sounded like a death knell, my death knell.

"No." I weakly gasped as his blades struck me. I screamed in pain as the world became dark. My most loyal Dark Hunter had finally fulfilled his duty; he killed me when I had finally shown weakness. I had lost, and he had won.

…

As the eclipse finally ended Katara walked her dad down a set of stairs to the beach.

"Give it up dad, I saw them fall. Matoro died." Katara stated dejectedly as she tried to stop her father from searching. "I don't want to lose you because your wounds are worse than I thought."

"I'm fine, and I'm not about to let my future son-in-law to die without a search being made for him!" Hakoda assured his daughter.

"Dad, Matoro is dead!" yelled Katara as she started to cry again. "Please stop, you're just making this harder for me!"

"Why so quick to pronounce me dead Katara?" Katara slowly turned around. Standing behind her on the beach was Matoro. He was barely able to stand and was covered in blood, but he was alive.

"MATORO!" yelled Katara in a mixture of happiness and awe. The toa smiled and started to fall over. Katara quickly ran over and grabbed him. "Hang in there Matoro, just let me heal you. You're going to be fine. I'm not going to lose you again!" Katara stated as she set about bending water over him to begin healing Matoro smiled and fell unconscious in her arms. "Dad," she asked. "Could you see if you can find any bandages on the boat?" Hakoda nodded and limped over to the small skiff. "Hold on Matoro," she whispered. "You saved my dad, now I'll save you."

…

Matoro lay sleeping while Katara and Hakoda made camp and started a fire. Even with all of her healing power Katara had only been able to save him, not completely heal him, time would have to do the rest. They had already prepared dinner before he awoke. Matoro instinctively stretched, this small action made him cry out in pain. Katara quickly ran over to him.

"You have to remain still; your wounds were quite extensive." Matoro gave her a rueful grin.

"So, how bad is it?" he asked.

"Three bruised ribs, a dislocated arm that we already reset, a cut on your side that is going to leave a nasty scar, and a bump on the head." Hakoda smiled.

"Is that all?" asked Matoro as Katara helped him up into a sitting position. "I figured it would have been worse."

"It will be if you try anything like that anytime soon." Katara admonished. "In fact I insist that you place yourself under my complete care."

"Looks like I don't have a choice in the matter." He smiled at Katara. "Not that I mind." His eyes grew calm as he looked at Katara. "I'm so glad that you're ok."

"I'm glad that you're alive! How did you survive?" Katara asked

"Honestly it was close; I managed to create an ice shield that protected me just long enough. It almost didn't work." Matoro answered, and then he smiled. "In fact, the only thing that kept me going was the thought of how mad you'd be if I didn't return." Katara smiled though her tears.

"Please, don't ever do that again." She asked quietly. Matoro nodded.

"Believe me; I have no desire to do that ever again." Matoro leaned back and looked at the sky. "I wonder how the others are doing in Ba Sin Se?"

…

Mai

We all stared in shock as The Shadowed One was killed by his own warrior. We were all quiet for a few minutes as we tried to process it all. Then all of a sudden Darkness turned around and faced us. Umbra was suddenly in front of me. Darkness almost seemed to laugh.

"Donot fear Umbra, I have no quarrel with you. My task was to kill him when he became weak, and nothing more_._" The Dark Hunter turned to Axonn. "You have a high rank in the order, do you not? Would it be possible for them to allow me to control what is left of the Dark Hunters in return for a promise not to interfere with their plans?" Axonn nodded his head slowly.

"Yes, I think that could be arranged." Darkness nodded and turned to Umbra

"You made a dangerous gamble back there… I hope that you realize what you have done to your life, it will never be the same_._" Umbra half smiled as he answered

"That's ok; I didn't like my old life much anyway… It's about time I tried something new." Darkness nodded and walked over to Brutaka.

"If you wouldn't mind, I would like to return to the world of the Bionicle as quickly as possible. This form is, uncomfortable for me_._" Brutaka nodded and opened the portal. He then turned to Umbra.

"Come on speedy, time to go home, where I can decide to punish you or give you a medal. Honestly I'm not sure what would be more appropriate." I quickly glanced at Umbra as he saluted. I started to touch his shoulder when Zuko came up and grabbed my hands.

"Oh Mai, I'm so glad that you didn't get killed!" He said ringing my hands in his. "I tried to save you but I just wasn't fast enough. Thank goodness that Umbra was, I don't know what I would have done if you had died." I tried to look past him at Umbra. Umbra was watching out of the corner of his eye. He smiled sadly and started walking towards the portal. Axonn came up from behind me and looked me in the eyes.

"He's walking; you know what that means don't you?"

"No, what could it possibly mean?" I asked as I looked at the giant.

"It means that he wants you to stop him. Umbra would already be through the portal if he didn't care… but, because he does care for you he is giving you a chance. Just remember…" Axonn said, "He disobeyed a direct order to save you, you must be pretty special to him." The realization of what he said hit me like a thunderbolt. I looked Zuko in the eyes. I didn't want to hurt him, but I knew that I couldn't pretend that things hadn't changed.

"Zuko, I am truly sorry, but I have realized in the past week that you and I are not meant to be." I said, ignoring the shock and hurt on his face as I said it. "I love another, I can only ask for you to understand." Zuko looked down and smiled sadly.

"Mai… I'm sorry that I couldn't be that one who made you happy. I hope that you can forgive me for what I've done to you." I nodded my head at him.

"I already have." I said. Zuko looked up and gave me a sad smile.

"Go; catch him before he leaves your life forever." He let go of me and I quickly ran over to where Umbra was almost to the portal.

"UMBRA!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. He turned around in shock just in time for me to wrap my arms around his neck and give him a big kiss. "No matter how fast you run you're never going to get away from me." I smiled at his dazed face.

"Mai," He said quietly "I… I love you as well, but…"

"But what?" asked Axonn as he walked toward the portal. "The Mask of Time is powerless; the Mask of Life is being protected by the most powerful members of the Order of Mata Nui. There really is no reason for you to come back." The massive warrior winked at me. "And there is all the reason in the world for you to stay here." Umbra looked at him in surprise.

"Do you mean that… you are freeing me?" he asked. Axonn nodded.

"Yes, as your commanding officer I order you to forget about any duties that you once had and I now assign you to work with Matoro in the attempt to save this realm." Umbra saluted, but he couldn't keep a small yet happy smile from spreading across his face.

"Thank you sir, I wish you luck back home." Axonn shock his head.

"My home Umbra, not yours, this world is your home now. Say goodbye to Matoro for me, tell him that we all miss him. I'd tell him myself but after the destruction of the Mask of Time and the death of the Shadowed One I think I'll be needed back home." With that he stepped though the portal. For a brief moment I saw he for who he really was in that realm, a massive warrior with an axe to fit his size. He turned around and waved. Brutaka snorted and looked at Umbra before he jumped though.

"You're a fool, of course, but I can't say that I'll miss you, so long speedy." With that he entered the portal and it closed behind him. Umbra took a deep breath.

"There goes my only chance to go back." I looked at him in surprise.

"You, you don't regret your choice, do you?"

"Not one bit." With that he caught me up in his arms and kissed me. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him back. No matter what would come, at least we had each other.

…

Even as Ba Sin Se celebrated its liberation a figure was washed up on fire nation shores. A small crab crawled over the crushed body of the defeated warrior. The crab was deciding if it was worth it to try to eat this creature when it moved. Shadow could barely hold his body together, but he was still alive. And if he was then Matoro probably was as well. The shadow form snarled as he stood up, he would need time to heal. But once he had healed he would come after Matoro again, and next time… next time Matoro would die! He tried to stand up and snarled in pain when he found that he couldn't. He glanced back and saw why. He was missing both legs. The eclipse was over so there was very little shadow energy around him to repair his body. He tried to pull himself away from the water with his one arm but someone stopped him. He looked up to see Mutran staring down at him. For the first time Shadow felt fear.

"Well, well. It looks like you've failed." Mutran smiled at him. "What a pity… didn't you say that you were going to go after me next?" Shadow groaned… he knew what was coming next.

"Just get it over with, you old coot!" He snarled at the Makuta.

"As you wish." Mutran shrugged and plunged his claws into Shadow's chest. The shadow form opened his mouth in a silent scream before disappearing entirely into the Makuta's form. Mutran smiled and licked his lips. "Ah, it's always so good to get a little power back." With that he turned around and walked away. A more paranoid Makuta would have been sure that Shadow was dead before absorbing him. Be every villain is prone to a little gloating. Deep inside the shadow that made up Mutran another being stirred. Shadow grinned to himself, it wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot!


	18. The Aftermath

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Ok, second story arc is over, and if you've been reading I bet that you can see at least two more possible major plot points in earlier chapters. But, before we once return to the regular storyline let's have a little "relaxation" time for those who earned it. Please read and review.

* * *

Chapter 17

The Aftermath (or, wow that was hard… how did we live through that again?)

Sokka and Suki were loading up Appa for the trip to the fire nation. As they were working Suki stopped to look at the city of Ba Sin Se.

"It's strange… all that damage and yet everyone is happy. They have their city back… and that's all that matters." Sokka shrugged.

"Still, we cut it kind of close, don't you think?" Suki nodded. They had come within a fraction of losing both their lives and their world. Iroh walked over and threw his pack up on Appa. "Hi Iroh, are you almost ready to go?" the old firebender nodded.

"Yes, I just need to go to the market and see if there is any tea left." Suki smiled, same old Iroh, always thinking about tea.

"Are you sure that you want to come back to the fire nation with us?" Sokka asked. "You're still a wanted fugitive."

"Oh, I'm coming, there's an old friend in the fire nation that I need to see. It might get us some extra help when it actually comes to defeating the fire lord." Sokka nodded, they would most likely need all the help they could get.

"So we're going to the fire nation and the rest are staying here." Suki smiled.

"Yeah, Toph wouldn't let us move Solek and Umbra's wounds were worse than we thought… They'll have to catch up with us later. Oh, but Ty Lee decided that she wanted to come. I think that she's tired of being away from home." Sokka thought about the time that had passed. He hoped that his sister and dad were ok. He wasn't particularly worried about Matoro, that guy was nearly invincible.

…

"Ow, do you have to be so rough Katara?" Matoro complained.

"Yes, we need to make sure that your arm is in right." Katara smiled at her fiancé as she finished testing its strength. "There… any better?"

"I think that Shadow might have been a little easier on me in comparison." Matoro mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Katara asked suspiciously.

"Nothing important, just thinking how beautiful you are." Matoro laughed as he gave her hand a squeeze. "I can't wait to see Sokka's face when you tell him the big news."

"Me either." The couple turned around to see Hakoda coming up with a big smile on his face. "He'll be livid that his little sister got engaged before he did." All three laughed. They were glad that they were alive.

"So, where do we go next?" Matoro asked.

"I think that we should head inland to the meeting place we set with Sokka." Katara suggested. "That way we can meet up with the others and find out how they did." Matoro nodded.

"At least we know that we don't have anything to worry about… since Shadow is dead we shouldn't run into anyone who can give us any trouble."

"Are you sure that he's dead?" Katara asked uncertainly. "If you lived though it then couldn't he have as well?" Matoro thought about it for a second before answering.

"Katara, the only reason I'm still here is because you healed me… he didn't have anyone to do that for him. I think the likelihood of him living is rather small." Katara nodded. She still wished she could be sure but she trusted Matoro.

…

Toph sat next to Solek's sick bed. Ever since the fight with the Kal he had been fast asleep. She was beginning to worry, he hadn't even moved. His breathing remained steady and his face looked calm, despite the fact that his right eye was no longer organic. Not that Toph noticed… she couldn't see what his face looked like anyway.

"Don't worry so much, Solek's a lot tougher then he looks, trust me, I know." Toph turned around to see Umbra and Mai come in. Umbra's legs were covered in bandages and there was a bandage around his head. "He'll pull through." Toph sighed.

"What happened to you? You looked fine at the end of the fight." Toph asked. Umbra groaned slightly as he sat down.

"Well, it turns out that I got a concussion when I hit the ground after Solek hit me with that sonic blast." He grinned ruefully. "And it also turns out that running during a temporal shift is bad for your legs. I'll be fine but it will be a few weeks before I can expect to move at the same speed again. I don't even want to know what turning into a light particle would do to me now." Mai smiled.

"That's just going to force you to stay here and let me take care of you."

"I don't mind being taken care of… I think it's the 'stay here' that will drive me crazy." Umbra grumbled. "I finally get the freedom to go wherever I want and I'm still being forced to stay in one place!"

"Look on the bright side… you don't have to kill anyone." Toph smiled at him. Umbra scoffed.

"I might have to if those nurses don't back off. I don't know why but apparently they're convinced that they have nothing better to do besides offering to help me get dressed, walk me anywhere, bathe me, feed me…" Mai frowned.

"Wait… where am I when all this is happening?"

"They always wait until you go off to do something before even thinking about getting close. I think you scare them." Umbra teased.

"Good, if I catch those over-glorified babysitters anywhere near you then THEY'LL be needing help to stand, much less eat!" Mai growled. Umbra laughed at her aggression.

"Wow, I never thought that I'd see either of you crack a smile… what happened to all the angsty sighs?" Toph asked. Mai shrugged.

"I guess that in this case two negatives actually make a positive." She smiled as she put her arm around Umbra. "I just feel content when I'm around Umbra." Umbra blushed and smiled.

"I guess for me it's the knowledge that I'm free to do anything I want… no more missions for the Order… no more endless guard duties…" Mai elbowed him "Oh, and plenty of time to spend with Mai!"

"That's more like it… don't forget the reason you stayed behind." Toph smiled at the two of them playfully sparring with one another. She turned and put her hand on Solek's.

"Please… wake up soon." She whispered to him.

…

Zuko wandered the streets of Ba Sin Se. He didn't know what else to do. He didn't hate Mai for loving someone else, and he was glad that she had found someone to make her happy. But that didn't stop him from feeling bad. He truly was sorry for how he had treated her, and yet. If he searched himself he could see that they had both just been going through the motions… neither of them had really loved the other, it had just been a little crush. Zuko looked around at the city that had for so long seemed unshakeable. The walls had fallen in a single day… not that anyone from this world could have done it that fast. The Earth King had returned and the nation had rejoiced at their freedom. He smiled to himself, so this is what it's like to be a hero. At the banquet recognizing the heroes who saved the city he had decided not to hide his identity. There was plenty of shock when the nobles learned that the crown prince of the fire nation had fought for their freedom. There was still some hostility but mostly people had just been relieved that they had won. Zuko wondered how long that would last before he was once again the object of hate and mistrust. He sighed; it seemed as if no one would ever understand him. Zuko looked up and was surprised to find himself outside of the tea shop that he used to work at with his uncle right after they had come to the city, back when they were refugees. Back when he had, for a short time, lead a simple life. Unencumbered by what people thought of him because no one knew him. He was trying to summon the courage to walk in when a girl came out. She was waving goodbye to someone in the store so she wasn't looking where she was going. She walked right into Zuko and knocked both of them down into the dusty street. She immediately stood up and started apologizing.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry… I didn't see you there." Then she got a good look at who she had bumped into. "Oh my… Lee?" Zuko's mouth fell open as he recognized her.

"Jin… is that you?"

"LEE!" with a cry of joy Jin wrapped her arms around him in a giant hug. "Oh my gosh I was so worried. I didn't hear anything about you after the invasion. I thought you might have been hurt." Zuko was at a loss, what were the odds of him running into the first girl he had ever kissed?

* * *

Author's note: Actually, I think the odds of that happening are pretty good. :)

* * *

"It's good to see you to Jin." Zuko said, truthfully. He was glad to see someone who had never known him as the banished fire prince. Jin remembered how much Lee had liked his personal space so she helped him up.

"Sorry about the hug, it just seems like it's been such a long time…"

"It has… I'm glad you're ok!" Zuko found himself smiling for the first time in weeks. "I'm sorry I didn't try to find you. It's just when the invasion happened…" Jin smiled

"Don't apologize; it was a pretty crazy time... what happened to you anyway? I never saw you again after you ran off that night." Zuko gulped, he remembered that night. She had kissed him and he had run away saying 'it's complicated'.

"Jin…" Zuko sighed. "I… I haven't been entirely truthful with you."

"What do you mean?" she asked, puzzled. Zuko sighed, it's not like this day is going to get any worse, he thought to himself before answering.

"We need to go sit down somewhere; this is going to be a long story."

…

Ty Lee ran out of the hospital with her bags over one shoulder and Momo clinging to the other. She had been saying goodbye to Mai, Toph and Umbra. She rounded the corner and threw her bags up onto Appa. Sokka shook his head at her.

"What's the hurry? We wouldn't have left without you." Ty Lee smiled as she jumped up next to Suki.

"I know, I'm just excited to go home, that's all." She smiled to herself. "I'm actually looking forward to seeing my sisters!"

"I didn't know you had sisters." Suki commented. Ty Lee nodded.

"Yep, six of them, and we all look alike."

"Great." Sokka moaned, "One Ty Lee is enough, but seven identical girls? Perhaps this isn't such a good idea." Suki laughed and punched his shoulder.

"Oh, come on Sokka. You'll just as happy to see Katara." Sokka rubbed his shoulder.

"Where did that come from? I thought that punching people was Toph's thing?" Suki laughed.

"I know, I just thought I'd give it a try." She smiled as she fluttered her eyelashes at him. "What do you think?"

"I think I you should leave the pain to Toph and stick with hugging me." Sokka answered ruefully.

…

Jin stared at Lee, no, Zuko in shock.

"You mean that you were refugees, but you were on the run from the fire nation because they had banished you?" Zuko nodded.

"Yeah, you remember my uncle?" Jin nodded. "He's actually the great general Iroh, The Dragon of the West who tried to take this city a long time ago." Jin felt her mind spinning. That nice old man had been one of the best fire nation's generals in history?

"But if he was the Dragon of the West then you must be…" Zuko nodded.

"That's right; I'm the banished crown prince of the fire nation." Jin was quiet for a minute. They were at the fountain where their earlier date had ended. Zuko continued. "I can understand if you hate me… after all, I'm the son of the worst fire lord of a long line of bad fire lords." Jin looked at him and took his hand.

"I don't hate you Lee, I mean Zuko." Zuko looked at her in shock.

"But, why don't you?" Jin laughed at his question.

"Because I didn't fall for the banished prince of the fire nation… I fell for this nice guy who served tea. I don't care about what your name is or what you really do… we all have our little secrets. Can I tell you one of mine?" Zuko nodded. "My mother and father did meet at this fountain, but they died a few years after I was born because of a sickness. I lived with an aunt until she died and I've lived by myself since I was 13." Zuko stared at her in wonder. "And that's not all." She continued. "I found out from my aunt that my father was actually a deserter from the fire nation army." Zuko almost fell into the fountain in shock.

"Wait… you mean to tell me that your father was from the fire nation?" Jin nodded.

"Yeah, apparently you weren't the only one to disagree with the fire lord's orders. My father ran away and came to Ba Sin Se to start a new life. He met my mother and fell in love with her. When he finally told her years later she just laughed and said that she didn't care who he had been, she loved who he had become… that's how I feel about you." Jin smiled and took Zuko's other hand in her own. "That's how I've always felt about you." With that she leaned in and kissed him. This time Zuko didn't pull back. For the first time in his life he had found someone who loved him for who he was. Jin broke the kiss and smiled at him. "See, it's not so bad, is it"

"No, it isn't." Zuko smiled. "I never would have thought that someone like you existed. No one besides my uncle and some close friends has ever cared about me just for who I am. It's always been because I was the fire lord's son." Jin grinned.

"Well, what do we do next?" Suddenly a large shadow fell over them. They two looked up to see Appa hovering right over their heads. Sokka stuck his head over the seat and yelled at Zuko.

"Hey sparky! You coming or what?" Zuko looked at Jin and decided to take a chance.

"Come with me Jin… I know that it's going to be hard but… I think that it'd be easier if we were together." Jin smiled and hugged him.

"Of course I'll come with you!" Zuko smiled back and called up to Sokka.

"Yeah, I'm coming, I mean, we're coming." From on top of Appa Iroh smiled.

"Well, it's about time." He said to no one in particular.

…

In the spirit world Lhikan was resting. It's ironic that they call it 'the eternal rest', he thought to himself, considering that he'd done very little resting. Suddenly Aang ran up in a sweat.

"Lhikan, we have a problem!" he yelled. "The spirits have sensed something of great power just appeared in the world. They missed it at first because it didn't do much, but now! There is something that is absorbing a lot of elemental energy!" Lhikan jumped up and shook Aang.

"Draining elemental energy… are you sure?" Aang nodded. Lhikan put a hand over his mask. "Of all the people to come to this universe, why her, and why now?"

"Wait; do you know where this energy is coming from?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, I know, though I wish I didn't." Lhikan sighed. "I think it might be a very powerful, and very insane, toa."

"But if it's a toa then that's a good thing right?" Aang asked.

"Not this toa." Lhikan answered with a dark look. "Worst of all it's my responsibility to stop her."

"What are you going to do?"

"Aang, I need to use the spirit gate to go into your world." Lhikan sighed. Aang stared at him in shock.

"But, if you do that then you'll be stuck there until you die!" he protested. "And how is this any different than me using it?"

"It's different because I haven't died in you world… and I really would rather not do this. But I have to." Lhikan turned to Aang. "Avatar… it has been an honor." Aang saluted him.

"Just be sure not to come back to soon." Aang tried to joke. Lhikan smiled and nodded. And then he walked though the sprit gate.

"Time to save the universe from my psychotic ex-girlfriend… again." He sighed to himself.

…

Matoro used his newfound control of water to push the small boat away from the shores of the eastern air temple, or what was left of it. Katara nodded proudly at him.

"Not bad… when did you discover that you could control water?" Matoro shrugged.

"A couple days ago, right before we left." Katara smiled. That was one of the things that she loved about Matoro, he never made anything he did sound impressive.

"Well, that just means that I'll have to train you harder." She winked at him. He groaned with fake horror at the idea.

"When they say 'going to your eternal rest' they don't really mean it, do they? Look at me, died to save a universe, now I have to endure torture from the most beautiful girl in the world." He sighed loudly. "The life of a hero never ends." Katara and Hakoda laughed at him and Katara leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"We all have to bear our little tortures… look at me… I have to plan on making extra blankets because my husband gives off a permanent chill."

"Hey," Matoro objected. "I can't help that… it comes with being an ice toa."

"Still… you have to admit it's rather weird." Katara teased him.

"Not at all!" Matoro frowned in mock anger. "It's a sign of my power. If I had a small amount of power, like you waterbenders, then it wouldn't be there. It's because I could practically freeze a continent that it's there at all."

"So I'm weak huh?" asked Katara as she pushed Matoro in the shoulder.

"Ow! Hey! Watch the injuries!" Hakoda smiled at the couple. It was good that they were able to laugh, even after all that had happened to them.

…

Lhikan

I stepped out of the Spirit Gate and shook myself off, this organic body felt weird. But no matter how it felt I had made my choice, I was now trapped in this world; I could not go back through the Spirit Gate. I gazed at the horizon and started to think about what I would have to do. I needed to find Matoro and warn him about Tuyet's entrance to this world, and then I would have to stop her. I sighed in frustration, just when I thought that I could rest my psychotic ex-girlfriend would just have to resurface. And of course I would have to be nearby, which meant that I couldn't just sit around and watch others fix the problem. Sensing something behind me I turned, I smiled when I saw it was just an otter-penguin. I reached up and patted its head.

"Sorry little guy… I don't have any fish." Right after I spoke I noticed something… my voice was much higher. Then I realized that I had reached UP to pat the otter-penguin's head, a creature that should have been shorter than me. I also realized that my swords were getting a little heavy on my back. I took them from their sheaths and looked at them; they shouldn't have been this big. They were easily three times the size of my body, even in sword mode. I felt a chilling sensation come over my spine, and it wasn't the cold. Something had dawned on me, but no… it couldn't be, could it? I ran over to a patch of ice and looked in the reflective surface. What I saw caused me to yell at the sky in frustration and rage.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

…

Had anyone been anywhere near they would have seen a large burst of flame shoot into the sky. If they had seen who had caused it they would have been very surprised. They would have seen a red haired, blue eyed, six year old boy in full battle armor roaring at the sky for apparently no reason. Lhikan knew one thing for sure… this world had a cruel sense of irony.

* * *

Author's note: Yeah, that is why Lhikan is never going to forgive me... on the plus side it should be rather funny having a six-year-old who can out-firebend the fire lord.


	19. Cast Meeting

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: With the end of the second story ark I gathered the some of the cast of "The Champion of Ice" together to discuss the story so far.

* * *

Chapter 18

Cast Meeting

Me: Ok is everyone here? Let's do a roll call. I'm here of course.

Matoro: Her e

Katara: Here

Sokka: Here

Suki: Here

Toph: Here

Solek: Here and glad to be awake!

Umbra: Here

Mai: Here

Ty Lee: Here

Jin: Here

Zuko: Here

Iroh: Here

Lhikan: Here

Aang: Here but wondering why I am.

Yue: Here

Me: Good, it sounds like everyone I called is here… now, on to business. How do you like the story so far?

Lhikan: I have an issue with it!

Me: yeah, I kind of expected that.

Lhikan: I have no problem being in the story but don't you think it's a little demeaning to make me a six-year-old?

Me: Just a little… however, if you were the same age as Matoro and Umbra I would feel a need to pair you with someone.

Lhikan: Wait… what?

Me: and with your current fixation with psychopaths bent on world domination you would most likely end up with… Azula.

Silence fills the room.

Lhikan: Suddenly being six doesn't sound so bad… and what do you mean "fixated with psychopaths"?

Me: Dude… your only girlfriend up to date has been Tuyet.

Lhikan: That was before I knew she wanted to take over the world!

Zuko: really, because I think that would be a fairly obvious thing.

Sokka: Yeah… you'd think that a guy would notice when someone he's close to is criminally insane.

Zuko: If that was another jab at my sister then yes, I knew she was insane.

Katara: Then why did you help her kill Aang?

Zuko: Like you care… if that hadn't happened then you would have never met Matoro!

Aang: yeah… things have worked out rather well for you since I died!

Me: People! Let's try to be civil. A house needs all its walls to stand and the fourth one is already broken so let's not stress things.

Grumbling and several muffled apologies follow

Aang: I still don't see how this is fair to me.

Katara: Oh, get over it Aang.

Aang: I'm just saying… it's crazy. How would you feel if I started going out with Yue! How would that make you feel!

Katara: It's none of my business, and I wouldn't care anyway, you spirits do what you want.

Sokka: Wait! Don't I get a say in this?

Suki: No, no you don't.

Matoro: Actually, if you think about it, since they're spirits there wouldn't be an age issue…

Aang: now that you mention it…

Me: OK we are totally going off of track here, so, next business on the list, shipping names.

Mass groans

Umbra: Really? Do we have to be that lame?

Solek: yeah… why do we have to do this?

Me: because every other group has shipping names, we need to jump on the bandwagon (and we need a little humor to lighten things up).

Katara: what was that?

Me: nothing, so, first off… Matoro and Katara.

Matoro: Great.

Me: I suggest either Matara or Katoro. Any ideas?

Iroh: Katoro sort of sounds nice, better then Matara.

Me: Katoro it is.

Katara: Don't we get a voice in the matter?

Me: No, those being named may not question the shipping.

Matoro: aw man.

Solek: Tee hee

Me: Next, Solek and Toph

Solek: Laughed too soon.

Me: the only options that make sense are Solph and Tolek…

Silence

Matoro: Ok, those names stink… I am so glad I'm not paired with Toph.

Toph: Hey!

Me: duly noted… I say we stick with Solph and move on.

Mass cries of "agreed"

Me: ok, next up… Umbra and Mai… now, I was personally leaning Maibra 'cause it sounds cool but I'll also consider Umai…

Zuko: the second one doesn't even make sense…

Me: yeah, you're right, Maibra it is. Sokka and Suki are a cannon ship so we don't have to work on them (everything I can come up with sounds too much like Sokka anyway.) The same goes with Jin and Zuko… even though it never officially happened in the storyline. And I guess that that's all of you…

Ty Lee: wait… what about me?

Me: You don't have a boyfriend yet… you might not get one.

Ty Lee: WHAT!

Me: I'm just saying that all the boys I plan on using have been taken, except for Lhikan who is six.

Lhikan: Don't even think about thinking about it!

Ty Lee: but why is everyone getting a happy ending except me!

Me: I didn't say you wouldn't be happy, I just said that you wouldn't have a boyfriend.

Ty Lee: but how is that…

Me: moving on!

Ty Lee: But I really want to know…

Me: MOVING ON!

Aang: can we look into options for me and Yue?

Sokka: NO!

Suki: why do you care?

Sokka: I'm just saying it's creepy is all.

Yue: don't I get a say in this?

Me: MOVING ON! Boy, what does it take to keep you guys focused?

Vezon: Hey guys! Can I be in the story?

Everyone: NO!

Vezon: Gosh, no need to yell. Just thought I'd ask. I mean what is a story without a resident toa of anarchy?

Everyone: GET OUT!

Vezon: Ok, ok… I'm leaving

Silence

Me: You know… that actually isn't a bad idea…

Vezon: really?

Everyone: NO!

Matoro: if that maniac is added to the story I quit!

Katara: and I'll quit with him!

Me: Ok, ok, I was just kidding.

Vezon: Phooey. I guess I'll just go plot how to kill the Piraka.

Me: Yeah… you go do that. Now, other business?

Solek: Yeah, how long am I going to be in a coma?

Me: for a few more chapters.

Sokka: I'd like to know if I get my meteor sword like in the show.

Me: Possibly, you will be in the fire nation for this next segment so it would make sense… but we have fans reading this so I can't be too specific.

Vezon: Does that mean that you were lying about…

Everyone: GET OUT OF HERE!

Vezon: ok, ok, tough crowd.

Me: ok, any other objections?

Zhao: I object to being beaten by a lemur!

Me: you again… weren't you crying on the far side of the spirit world about that little incident.

Zuko: get lost Zhao, you weren't invited.

Zhao: but I…

Zhao is washed away by a massive tidal wave.

Me: thank you Matoro. Now, any things that you guys have liked about the story?

Jin: I liked being in it, and ending up with Zuko.

Me: yes, I always thought that you weren't used in the show as much as you should have been.

Solek: I liked being in a bigger part then background character. And getting a robotic arm was cool, I feel like something out of Fullmetal Alchemist.

Matoro: I kind of liked not dying.

Me: "sob"

Matoro: are you ok?

Me: Yeah… I was just remembering your death scene… it was so touching.

Matoro: Um… thanks?

Me: you're welcome.

Zuko: I liked not having to go on all of those ridiculous "life changing fieldtrips with Zuko."

Me: Actually, some of those might still happen. But I'll try to include other characters in those trips so that you don't have to go on all of them.

Zuko: That's a relief.

Jin: I wouldn't mind going on a "life changing fieldtrip with Zuko."

Zuko: Technically you're on one now.

Jin: good point.

Me: so in short everyone is at least OK with what I've done so far?

Aang: you did less damage then the movie.

Iroh: that's for sure.

Katara: Yeah, no kidding.

Me: I agree, now, the last item on the list is mindwipeing all of you so that you don't remember a thing about this meeting.

Everyone: What!

Mai: isn't that, oh I don't know, wrong?

Me: I see it more as repairing the forth wall.

I press a button on my desk and everyone collapses and is teleported back to their respective places in my story.

Me: I love that button…

Vezon: You didn't get me!

I press another button and a trap door opens under him and sends him falling.

Me: But not as much as I love that button!

CRASH!

Cabbage man: MY CABBAGES!

Vezon: well, at least I landed on something soft.

Me: He really does keep on turning up everywhere… it's kind of creepy really.

* * *

Author's note: Ok, this one really has no point besides being funny, and tiding everyone off until I get more done. Enjoy the humor and please Review.


	20. Reunions

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 19

Reunions

Matoro looked up from the fire he was tending.

"Hey Katara!" he yelled "Your brother's coming in for a landing." Appa gently glided over the last batch of trees before landing next to the camp site. Katara came bursting out of a tent and waved at the figures began to jump off.

"Sokka! Suki!" She ran over and gave her brother and Suki a big hug. Sokka looked at her suspiciously.

"Why are you so happy? And why is Matoro in bandages." Matoro smiled and stood with a groan.

"First you tell me if you found the Mask of Time." Matoro grimaced and held his side. Katara ran over and carefully yet forcefully made him sit back down.

"Matoro! You know that you are to move as little as possible for another few days! If you move too much then your wounds will open again!"

"Yes sir, mister jailer sir…" Matoro muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Katara asked while giving him a look that would make Kopaka proud.

"I said yes dear!" Matoro smiled soothingly. Sokka stared at Matoro.

"Wait… did you just call her dear? And Katara… since when did you give such big hugs? Wait a minute… Matoro, did you?" Hakoda came up from where he had been cutting some firewood and laughed at his son.

"Yes he certainly did Sokka. Say hello to your new soon to be brother in law!" Matoro blushed slightly and held out his hand to shake Sokka's.

"I know that you would have rather been there… but it came as kind of a spur of the moment thing." Matoro was shocked when Sokka gave him a huge hug.

"That is without a doubt the best news that I've heard in a while! Welcome to the family Matoro!"

"Um, Sokka, you're hurting me!" Matoro gasped out.

"Oh! Sorry!" Sokka apologized as he let go. By now the other passengers had gathered around and were congratulating Matoro and Katara.

"So…" asked Matoro, "Did you find the mask?" Sokka nodded. Matoro sighed in relief. "Well now I don't feel so bad about never getting to the fire nation capital."

"Wait, then what did you do?" Zuko asked. Katara put her arm around Matoro and lightly squeezed him.

"Matoro decided to play hero to my damsel in distress." Sokka was immediately alarmed.

"Wait… what happened?" Matoro sighed.

"It's a long story…"

…

Solek

I could feel some sort of warmth on me, almost as if there was some sort of heavy bag on my chest that generated heat. There was also this weird sound… similar to the sound of someone snoring. I held my eyes closed for a few more moments wondering what prank Sokka had played on me now. I slowly opened one eye, and I saw Toph sleeping on me. Granted, she was sitting in the chair next to the bed I was in but her head and most of her upper body had somehow become draped over me. Suddenly I remembered everything. The battle, the Mask of Time, and what had happened to me. I almost sat up in shock, but then I remembered that Toph was sleeping. I slowly raised my right arm so that I could get a good look at it. It was robotic; there was not a shred of organic tissue on it at all. I felt my face with my other hand and found that my right eye and about an inch of the surrounding area were metal as well. Part of me wondered what I could do with a bionic arm and eye, maybe I had new powers that I could use to save the world or something cool like that. The rest of me suddenly realized what my mind had been trying to get across to me since I had woken up… Toph was sleeping on me… and she looked REALLY cute when she was asleep. It was almost as if all of the toughness had been drained away. She was even smiling. I felt bad for looking at her but what else was I going to do? She was sleeping on my chest for Mata Nui's sake! It's not like I asked her to fall asleep there. My stomach must have grumbled because she sat up as if she'd been bitten by something and yawned. She placed her hand next to my neck to take my pulse. Because she couldn't see me she hadn't realized that my eyes were open. She sighed sadly.

"Oh Solek, when are you going to wake up?" I was thinking about saying that I was awake but then she grabbed my normal hand and held it tight. Practically all coherent thought left my mind at that moment. "There's so many things that we could do together… I could take you to meet my parents… I should probably visit them soon anyway… we could go and see that cave that Katara told me about, what was it called? Oh yeah, the cave of two lovers, that was it." Any plans I had had for telling her I was awake vanished at once. Clearly she was saying things that she would never say to me if I was awake… and if she found out that I was awake then there was a good possibility that I would get launched though the roof with earthbending. She continued, blissfully aware that I was holding on to her every word. "There's just so much I didn't get to tell you…" She started to cry a little. She wasn't bawling like Ty Lee but little tears that came from her eyes without a sound and trickled down until they fell off of her cheek. I felt like reaching up and telling her that everything would be ok. But I knew that if I did then Mata Nui himself might not be able to protect me. "I should have told you how much you mean to me… but I never got the chance. I promise that if I ever get to talk to you again that I'll tell you exactly what you mean to me." She leaned over and gently kissed my cheek. "Yeah, I'll tell you everything. About how even though we're from different worlds I still care for you… and how I had feelings for you ever since you called me a 'fair lady'. And how I wish every day that I could see, if only for a moment, just so that I could know how handsome you are. And how I've memorized you heartbeat so that I always know when you're around." I almost when right back into my coma when she kissed me, I hadn't seen that one coming! If she ever found out that I was awake for this then I was most definitely dead. I was wondering how long I could pull this act off when Umbra walked into the room. With his typical tact he saw what was going on and saw my desperate look of terror. He smiled slightly before speaking.

"Hey, Toph, why don't you go get some breakfast and let me watch him for a while?"

"Ok, I guess that it won't do him any good if I fall into a hunger coma." With that she stood up and walked out of the room. I sighed in relief.

"That was close… thanks Umbra." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Don't mention it… just remember that you owe me, I could still tell her that you were awake you know." I made a mental note to get some dirt on Umbra as quickly as possible… no need for Toph to EVER find out that I had heard her confessions. If she ever did then it would be anyone's guess whether she would kill me or hit me over the head in an attempt to make me forget. I tried to stand and found that besides and intense hunger I felt fine.

"Um, Umbra… where was that breakfast again?"

…

Azula

I stretched luxuriously in my new throne. With the absence of a counsel and no other member of the royal family I had been crowned fire lady as soon as the panic about my father's supposed death was past. My plan was going perfectly. With the earth kingdom in shambles and the water tribes on the brink of surrender soon the entire world would be mine… I hadn't even needed to use the comet. But I guess that just goes to show how awesome I am. The door to my throne room opened and a guard was pushed through. He was sweating and looked like he was about ready to run away. This worried me, why would he look like that?

"Um… your most beautiful highness… that is to say…. um… these letters have been coming in from the earth kingdom outposts and both Ba Sin Se and Omashu… you might want to look at them." With that he placed the letters on the throne and ran out of the room as fast as his legs could carry him. I frowned as I opened the letters. What could have possibly gotten him in such a frenzy of fear?

…

The two guards at the door watching in confusion as the guard who had just entered the throne room placed as much distance between himself and it as he could. One of the guards turned to the other.

"So… what's up with him?" the other guard shrugged. Suddenly there was a yell of fury from the throne room.

"WHAT! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? HOW COULD THE EARTH KINGDOM BE LIBERATED?" the two guards looked at each other.

"Oh, that's what's wrong." One of them said.

"Yeah… if deserting our posts wouldn't demote us to private again then I'd probably follow him." the other guard nodded as they listened to Azula's ranting.

…

Solek

I walked into the main area of the hospital with Umbra.

"So how long was I out?" I asked.

"About three days, Toph was getting pretty worried about you… but then you know that." I blushed at the reminder of what I had heard.

"Seriously, don't tell her ok… I'd like to keep my head." Umbra smiled and nodded. Just then I was punched in the side so hard I thought that I would collapse.

"Solek! You're up!" Toph cried joyfully. I ruefully rubbed my side and thanked the Great Beings that she hadn't hit me harder. "What took you so long?"

"Um, I'm glad to see you to?" I smiled at her enthusiasm. We all sat down for breakfast and soon Mai joined us. She kept on glaring at the nurses and even twirled a dagger in her right hand while eating. I glanced at Umbra and raised an eyebrow at him. He just shrugged and continued eating. I looked around and didn't see any of the others. "Where is everyone?" I asked Toph.

"They went ahead to the fire nation to meet up with Matoro, Katara and Hakoda." She said. "We were supposed to go and meet up with them but Umbra had a different idea." I turned to Umbra.

"I was just thinking that it's going to be rather hard to keep the fire nation contained. It might help if we stay here and helped drive them out." I smiled.

"And… you don't know how to sail or swim, do you?" Umbra raised an eyebrow at me.

"No, I don't, but I don't see what that would have to do with…"

"Never mind… I was just wondering." I thought about his idea, he had a good point. If the fire nation was busy with us it would make Matoro's job a lot easier. Plus I wasn't all that sure if I could still fly, and that would mean a long journey by boat. Something I wasn't looking forward to. "So," I asked. "How are we going to do this?"

"I thought that we might want to split up to be more effective." Toph interrupted before Umbra could respond.

"That's a great idea." Mai agreed. "That way we can cover twice as much ground as before and cause more trouble." Umbra looked at me.

"Did our entire plan just get hijacked?" I nodded.

"And if we're smart we'll leave it like that." I added. Mai smiled at me.

"You two really learn fast."

…

Matoro told the tale of Shadow's attack quickly and without embellishments, those were added by Katara who, after hearing Matoro make it sound like it was no big deal, had insisted on taking over and had Matoro blushing on several occasions as she finished the story.

"Really Katara… it wasn't that impressive." Sokka snorted at him.

"Matoro, you almost DIED to save my sister… I don't know what you did back in your home world that would make this look like an everyday thing but I know that fighting an evil form of yourself is VERY impressive." Matoro smiled shyly.

"I guess it is." He admitted. "I'm just used to looking at others as being better than me." Katara wrapped her arms around him and smiled.

"Well in this would you ARE the best, just don't let that get to your head." Matoro looked at her with a smile.

"Really, I'm better than Umbra, Solek, and a Makuta?"

"Of course you are… I'm engaged to you aren't I?" everyone laughed at that. Matoro smiled. He was so happy here. All of his friends had survived, and he'd made new ones. He looked at all of them and smiled. Together, what hope could even Makuta Teridax have against them?

…

To say that Azula was mad would have been like saying that Makuta's hate light. You would be right but you'd be slightly off, you see, Makuta's abhor anything having to do with light; it goes beyond any form of hatred that you or I know about. And just like that Azula wasn't just mad, she was enraged. There have been active volcanoes with a calmer disposition. However, she knew that as the fire lady it was important to always remain professional. With this in mind she did not kill anyone, and she refrained from torching anything and everything in range. She even managed to smile for her portrait painting that she had ordered to mark the beginning of her reign. She was completely calm… until she took the long stairway down to Mutran's secret lab. Then she lost it.

"MUTRAN!" she yelled as soon as she entered though the large and forbidding door. Mutran was actually busily working on his latest project and the surprised of an unannounced visit caused his hand to slip and the welding iron in it to slice a piece off of his new battle suit. Trying to keep a calm head the Makuta turned and faced the fire lady. He tried to refrain from killing her; despite the fact that she had quickly risen to the most annoying human he had ever met.

"Yes fire lady, what is it?" he smiled, thinking of the horrible things that he would do to her as soon as she outlived her usefulness.

"Our presence in the earth kingdom has fallen. Somehow both Ba Sin Se and Omashu were liberated in the same day… within hours of one another!" Mutran winced. This was worse than he had thought… taking over a nation that already ruled the world was a lot easier then taking over the world. Most Makuta would have preferred the longer and harder path but Mutran was a scientist, not a general.

"This is a problem… fortunately it's a problem that I can fix." He smiled and walked to the back of the room. "I think it's about time you saw what I've been doing with those 'organic experiments' of mine."

"This had better be good Mutran… I've been sending you prisoners and political enemies for weeks and I still haven't seen any results." Mutran snarled under his breath, why did no one understand that it takes time for things to work.

"I assure you fire lady; this next project will fix all of our problems." With that he pulled a lever that opened a secret door (not the secret door leading to his 'plan B' that would come later). Azula was shocked to see a whole set of tubes. Floating inside of them were human beings, suspended by fluids they slept unaware that they were being watched.

"What… what are these?" Azula asked in a mixture of awe and horror.

"Let me answer that question with a question… what is the most powerful element?" Azula frowned at him.

"As much as I hate to admit it there isn't one, all four balance each other out, only with the help of a powerful boost like the comet can one become more powerful than the other." Mutran smiled, he loved revealing his genius to the world

"Correct, you have a little 'circle of balance' that makes sure that no one element is more powerful than the other. This of course means that no one nation or power really has a long term chance of defeating the other. Even if you did use the comet's power it wouldn't last forever… eventually it would leave and the other nations would rise again." Azula was shocked. This explained everything, why the war was still going on, why the fire nation had no more hope of winning than its enemies had of taking over.

"But then… the only way to win would be to control an unknown element that existed outside of the circle."

"Correct again fire lady. And to that end I have made a warrior who can use an element that, until now, was never seen in this world." Azula scoffed.

"Even if you did discover another element there is no way that anyone could master an element in a few weeks."

"Correct." Mutran smiled. "This had me stumped as well. But while the eclipse was going on I took a little trip around the country… and I found something very interesting… did you know that there were a large tribe of, oh what do you call them… oh, yes, ninjas, living nearby?" Azula was shocked.

"What? But… how is that possible?" Mutran shrugged.

"I do not question facts fire lady, I use them. The fact is that they attacked me for intruding on their little hiding place. They were quite skilled but not skilled enough to beat me. I did not kill them; instead I captured them and placed them in these tanks. I have been working on them and finally added an elemental ability that will coexist with their personal skills."

"But there are no other elements!" argued Azula. "There are only four, that's the way it has always been. You can't just create another element out of thin air!"

"But I didn't… tell me fire lady, if there is no light then what do you have?" Mutran asked.

"Darkness, why?" she answered. "I am losing my patience with all of these riddles Mutran."

"Add a little light to darkness and you get shadow… and shadow is always around us, it practically lives in the hearts and minds of some people. These ninja have perfected the art of using the shadow for cover and to strike with surprise and yet have no control over it… I just gave them that control." Azula realized what he had been saying all along.

"Oh my… you didn't create a new element… you just let them control one that no one else could! How did you do that?" Mutran shrugged.

"It's a very complicated process that I am sure you would not understand, so I will not attempt to explain it." Mutran sneered. Azula looked at him sharply.

"Do not forget your place scientist! How soon can we send these… shadowbenders… out to fight?"

"Right away." Mutran smiled as he pulled a lever. The fluid slowly drained out of the containers and the ninja started to wake up. At Azula's nervous look Mutran smiled. "Do not worry fire lady; I incorporated a special form of your Dai-Lee brainwashing into these tanks. These warriors no longer remember who they once were and believe that they have always served me… better still, there is no way to reverse this kind of brainwashing." The warriors had all exited their tanks and were standing in six neat rows of ten. With the exception of differing height and eye color there was almost no way to tell them apart, except for one. There was one boy of about eighteen who stood in front of the others. Instead of being covered entirely in black his head was bare, revealing short black hair. It also made the scar over his left eye that ran from the hairline to his mask visible. Upon seeing this Azula started.

"Black hair? That is quite unusual… I thought that only air nomads could have black hair… it shows up occasionally elsewhere but not as often as brown or blond." Mutran smiled.

"My dear fire lady, are you really so conceited that you think that your great grandfather got all of the air nomads? We're talking about an entire nation; no one could possibly find all of them. You might have taken the air temples and destroyed their masters, but they were the air nomads, not the air monks. I am sure that there are other small villages throughout the entire world that have escaped your notice. As for why you can see his hair at all, he was the leader of the ninja before and, since the person with the strongest will often rules, I made it so they all see him as a leader now as well. The difference in uniform allows his men to know who he is. His name is Aoshi." The ninja leader bowed at her.

"Tell us your bidding, we live to serve." Even for an eighteen-year-old his voice held an unusual amount of mystery and even, deadliness.

"Go to the earth kingdom, find those responsible for the fire nation's defeat there… and kill them!" Mutran ordered. Aoshi nodded. Then all of the ninja's raised their arms and they disappeared into a burst of shadow. When the light had finally crept back into the room they were gone. Azula was impressed.

"I just hope that they are successful… if they are not…" Azula let the comment hang ominously as she left the room. Mutran sneered… soon there would be no more need for Azula, or the silly firebenders who followed her. Mutran glanced at a large tarp that covered his secret project. He smirked; soon he would have an army that would make any elemental user look weak. And if the fire nation was counting on their comet to save them they were wrong… horribly wrong!

…

Ty Lee

I had wandered off from camp to think. Not that I minded being around the others, but with almost everyone congratulating Matoro and Katara it just reminded me that I still had no one. I sighed; with Jin around I thought that everyone would be too busy meeting her to talk about Matoro and Katara… I guess I had been wrong. Mai, Suki, Katara, Jin… even Toph had Solek. It seemed as if I was destined to be left alone. I looked up from where I was sitting and saw something that made me rub my eyes and look again. There was a six-year-old boy riding what looked like a metal surfboard… except it was flying. The board came to rest on the ground and split in half. The boy fell down on the ground and remained there. Worried I ran over and shook him lightly.

"Hey, kid, are you ok?" he was wearing a full set of red battle armor and had red hair to match it. He opened blue eyes and gasped out one word.

"Water…" with only a brief second of hesitation I picked him up and ran back to camp. This was harder than it sounded because he wouldn't let go of his board. When it had fallen apart it had become two extra large swords. I ran back into camp.

"Hey, this kid needs water fast!" I yelled. Suddenly the camp became a frenzy of action. Katara ran over and bent the water in her flask to his mouth.

"Here, don't drink it too fast." She said. He drank thirstily and even dropped his swords to hold the flask in his hands and slowly drink it down. Matoro came over and picked up the blades. He did an almost comical double take and stared at them.

"What's wrong Matoro?" Iroh asked.

"These… these swords… they look like the blades that toa Lhikan uses!" Matoro stuttered in shock.

"That's because they are." The little boy said. He wiggled out of my arms and walked over to Matoro. "Matoro… I've found you at last!" Matoro looked shocked.

"L… Lhikan?" the six-year-old boy smiled sadly.

"Yeah, it's me… and if I ever find out who did this to me then they are going to roast." Matoro looked over at me and Katara with a look of disbelief on his face. Katara and I looked at each other and shrugged. We had learned that with friends like Matoro strange things were bound to happen. Incredibly cute six-year-olds claiming to be heroes from another world shouldn't be that surprising.

* * *

Author's note: for those of you who are wondering, no, Aoshi is not the Aoshi from Rurouni Kenshin... he is however named after that character. Please Review.


	21. Changes

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: This is a long one. But it's also one that I just couldn't stop writing. Enjoy and please review.

* * *

Chapter 20

Changes

It took a while but finally Lhikan was able to convince Matoro that it was indeed him.

"Sorry Lhikan, it's just kind of hard to believe that a hero like you could look like… this."

"Yeah, I'm having a hard time believing it myself." Lhikan sighed. "I think because I died while Vakama was using the Mask of Time it messed with my actual age."

"So, in other words, you're an extremely powerful toa… who is incredibly wise… and you're trapped in the body of a six year old." Sokka said.

"A very cute six year old." Ty Lee added. Lhikan glared at her.

"Yes I am trapped in this body… NO I am not cute!"

"Sure, just keep denying it." Ty Lee grinned at him. Lhikan actually started steaming.

"I AM NOT CUTE! I AM A HEROIC WARRIOR WHO HAS LIVED FAR TOO LONG AND DONE WAY TO MANY AMAZING THINGS TO BE CALLED CUTE!" Matoro glanced at him.

"Um, Lhikan, are you ok?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine…" he said as he calmed himself down. "It would seem that my body is affecting my mind in ways that I don't really understand."

"Great… so we have an extremely powerful toa, with the maturity of a kid." Zuko groaned aloud. "That's going to help us immensely."

"Actually I'm not here to help you, per say. If I had had my way I would still be in the spirit world. Unfortunately it seems that an old enemy of mine has somehow entered this world." Matoro sighed.

"What, another threat? We're still dealing with the fire lord and a Makuta… who could possibly be worse than them?" Lhikan looked up sadly.

"Tuyet could." Matoro's mouth dropped. Katara turned to him and frowned.

"Who is Tuyet?"

"Only the most insane toa in the history of the Bionicle universe!" Matoro gasped. "How could she be here?"

"I don't know how she got here, it is possible that when Takanuva took his long trip through the dimensional portal he accidentally left a portal open long enough for her to escape from an alternate version of the Bionicle universe. It doesn't really matter how she got here… all that matters is that we stop her, and quickly." Matoro nodded.

"But Lhikan, couldn't you have just told me this in a dream? Why did you have to come yourself?" Lhikan looked a little embarrassed.

"I… I kind of feel responsible for her… and if there is any way to make her see the wrong of her ways I want to try it."

"Wow, why do you care so much what happens to her?" Jin asked.

"She… we kind of… it's complicated."

"She was his girlfriend." Matoro explained. Everyone stared at the little six year old.

"Gosh, am I never going to live that one down?" Lhikan snarled. "Ok, yes, we were close. But that was before I knew that she had the Nui Stone and was planning to use it to take over the universe."

"You'd think that that would be a hard thing to miss." Sokka commented. Lhikan sighed.

"What's a Nui Stone?" asked Iroh.

"It's an object that drains elemental energy from all the beings in a 3000 mile radius." Lhikan answered. "It does so in such small amounts that no one has ever realized it. And since elemental energy can't run out there is really no stopping it. Anyone who holds the stone can use that power." Matoro realized what Lhikan was saying.

"Wait… but if she has it… and since there are many more elemental users in this world… her power is growing by the minute!" Lhikan nodded sadly.

"Correct, we need to work fast… before she gains enough power to destroy the world."

"But how, we have no idea where she is?" Sokka asked.

"She will come after me…" Lhikan said. "If I start looking for her she will find out that I am here and will search me out, if only to attempt to destroy me." Matoro nodded.

"Then the best thing that we could do is start to make a commotion, and make it obvious that you're here."

"But what about the comet?" asked Katara, "It's only a few weeks away, and if it gets here before we defeat this Tuyet then the fire nation will use it to take over the world!" Matoro sighed.

"As much as I hate to suggest it I think we need to split up. Lhikan needs people to guide him around and help him find the best places to make his name known. And the rest of us need to continue planning and training." Matoro winced. "After my battle with the shadow form I think that a little more training in areas other than my elemental abilities would be nice. I need to condition my body so that I can fight without relying too much on my powers alone." Iroh smiled.

"I might be able to help you with that… I have an old friend nearby… he is an expert sword master who might be able to teach you a thing or two." Matoro nodded, that was exactly what he needed.

"So Iroh will come with me and introduce this sword master. And I think that Katara will most likely come with me…"

"As if you could stop me." Katara smiled.

"No, I don't think I could." Matoro smiled back. "I think that Zuko and Ty Lee should go with Lhikan… they know the fire nation best and could help guide him around." Matoro turned to Sokka and Suki. "Where do you want to go?"

"Oh, we're coming with you; there's no way I'm letting you get away with my sister and getting married without me there!" Sokka grinned. Suki nodded her consent.

"I think that I'll go with Zuko." Jin said quietly. Matoro nodded, he had expected that.

"I think that I would be more useful helping gather the water tribe's fleets." Hakoda said as he stood up. "Even if you run into trouble out here I think that I'd just get in the way more than help." Matoro sighed.

"I didn't want to say it… but I think you're right. Plus, any help that the water tribes and the earth kingdom could send when we finally do attack the fire lord would be useful." And so it was settled. The next few hours were filled with goodbyes and preparations. Within an hour Hakoda left on Appa and headed for the northern water tribe. Momo had insisted on staying with Matoro and waved goodbye to his friend as the giant sky bison sailed away. The two remaining groups went their separate ways. They all knew that time was running out. They would have to defeat the fire lord, and soon, to have any hope of saving the world.

…

Toph

It had been almost a day since we had separated from the others. Mai and Umbra had decided to go north and take out the fire nation outposts along the coast. I had convinced Solek that going south would send us past Omashu and we would be able to see how things were going there. It would also take us past my home town of Gaoling. I had hoped that I would be able to have a serious talk with Solek about how I felt about him on the way. But he was busy trying to find out if he could fly, he wasn't doing very well.

"This time, this time for sure!" he said as he launched himself into the air for the fiftieth time and tried to make a sonic jetpack. All this did was send him flying downwards as a small sonic eruption hit his back and drove him into the ground, again. He groaned in pain and frustration as he stood up.

"Solek, please don't hurt yourself. I think that you've tried enough. Maybe you just need to accept that since your powers have changed you no longer have the ability to fly." He looked at me, he might have been making a sad face but if he was it was lost on me.

"But… I've always been able to fly! Even after I came here I could make a jetpack out of light and fly around… why shouldn't I be able to do that with sound?" I shrugged.

"I don't know why, your powers are so different from those that I'm used to that I really have no idea what you're capable of. But I do know that if you keep trying then you're likely to hurt yourself." Solek dejectedly hung his head and walked beside me.

"It's… it's just that… flying was everything to me. It was the one thing that I was really good at. In my world I couldn't even use my powers without a toa. And walking is so boring… how do you do it all the time?" I smiled at him.

"You'll get used to it."

"What if I don't want to get used to it?" he asked stubbornly.

"Then we'll have to find something to ride." I answered. He perked up at this.

"Yeah, I'll bet we can find something large around here to carry us around! I'll go up and look!" With that he tried to fly again. I sighed as I pulled him out of the large mud puddle he had landed in.

"Solek… you can't fly, remember?"

"Oh, yeah… I forgot."

…

Umbra

I was walking along listening to Mai talk and wishing that I could be somewhere else. It wasn't that she annoyed me; it was just that she was talking about places and things that I had never heard of or seen. And on top of that we were walking, I hated walking. We trudged along heading for the north coast so that we could travel down along it, heading west until we met up with Toph and Solek at a small village where Toph assured us that we'd be able to get a boat to the fire nation. In my mind it made more sense to stay together and take a boat right from the city to the coast, but apparently both Mai and Toph wanted to make sure that they had a little time alone with their chosen guy.

"And I'm sure that we'll have lots of fun in the summertime, we can go to Ember Island and walk along the beach." I sighed, at least Mai was happy. "And I can't wait to introduce you to my parents… I bet they've returned to the fire nation by now." Mai was chattering. I assumed that it was because she was nervous about being alone with me. I sighed in resignation… I might as well get this over with.

"Mai, what's wrong?" I asked her.

"Wrong? Why do you think that something is wrong?" she quickly answered.

"Because you've done nothing but talk nonstop the entire time we've been walking." I answered, glancing back at her. "Seriously, what is wrong?" She sighed.

"I guess I'm just not used to being around someone I like. Back when I had a crush on Zuko I never got to see him very much. And after he was banished I saw him even less. I guess I just don't know how to act around you." I smiled to myself… was that all that was bugging her?

"If it helps I have no idea how to act around you either. Actually I have even less experience then you… I lived alone in a cave for millennia, remember?" Mai nodded. "The only social experience that I have is the past week or so that I've been in this world. And I don't seem to be doing that bad… do I." Mai smiled.

"No, you're doing better than some people who have been going at this for years."

"See… if I can keep my cool around you then you have nothing to worry about." I smiled and put my arm around her. "Just relax… everything is going to be fine." She smiled and stopped. She slowly put her hands behind my neck and kissed me. I kissed back, glad to be alive. We most likely would have stayed like that for quite a while if I had not seen something out of the corner of my eye. I quickly moved Mai out of the way, and just in time. Where we had been standing about twenty sharp blades were slowly dissipating. Mai looked at them in surprise.

"Those are shuriken throwing stars… but why…?"

"Think later, fight now!" I advised her as the men who had thrown the weapons dropped from the trees and surrounded us. They all had blades that were midnight black, the same color as the things they had thrown at us. I was glad that I had fully recovered from my wounds; otherwise I wouldn't be able to fight. I tried to change into a light particle, and found that I couldn't. "Um, Mai… we have a problem…" I said as I drew my weapon and stood back to back with her.

"What? What problem could we possibly have?" She asked testily.

"I'm stuck like this, I can't turn into a light particle." She produced two daggers from her sleeves and held them in a defensive pose.

"Well then we'll have to do this the old fashioned way." She didn't have time to say more because at that moment the men attacked.

…

Iroh led Matoro and the others to a large mansion on top of a hill.

"Who lives here?" asked Sokka in awe. Iroh smiled

"A very good friend, and a master swordfighter, both are rare things in this world." Matoro looked surprised.

"Why are the arts of the sword so rare?" he asked. "Back home there were many who mastered the blade, even Matoran could learn it."

"But here so many people can bend that they usually focus on that one art." Iroh said as he knocked on the door. The door was opened by a butler who bowed to Iroh and led them into the house. He took them to a large chamber and bowed again.

"Master Piandao will be with you momentarily, he is resting." With that the butler bowed and left.

"What kind of man is this Piandao?" asked Suki.

"He is the best swordfighter and sword maker in the history of the fire nation." Iroh remarked as he admired one of many blades hanging on the wall.

"Now, now Iroh, we don't want me to get a big head do we?" everyone turned to see a middle aged man walk down a flight of stairs. He was of about average height with Hazel eyes, black hair and a neatly trimmed mustache and beard. He bowed to Iroh and smiled at him. "Welcome to my home Iroh, what brings so many young people to the small town of Shu Jing?" Iroh smiled.

"It's a long story."

"Then why don't we move to the dining hall and Fat can prepare some refreshments for us." Piandao suggested. Iroh nodded his thanks and followed the sword master into another room. "Now," said Piandao as he sat down. "Why are you here, exactly?"

…

If the strange men who attacked Umbra and Mai were expecting an easy fight they were greatly disappointed. Even in his normal form Umbra was many times faster than the normal human and he was used to fighting at greater speeds than usual. This meant that he could easily deflect any attack that they tried on him. Millennia of fighting experience against a varied group of enemies had also made him an extremely dangerous warrior. And Mai was no pushover either; she had started learning how to throw knives at a young age out of boredom and over the years had become an expert. Add to this that the two fought in almost perfect unison and they made a deadly combo. When later they tried to figure out how they could do this they were at a loss. It was almost as if they instinctively knew where the other person would be, because if they had been that person that's where they would have been. They spun and ducked quickly, Mai first attacking one side and then turning when the attackers got to close to let Umbra deal with them. But even with these great skills they were outnumbered. Umbra was being targeted by several more fighters in the trees throwing their shuriken knives at him, and he wasn't fast enough to dodge them all. With each cut in his all too organic body Umbra felt himself becoming weaker. These were no normal weapons, they dissipated after hitting him and it seemed no matter how many were thrown the attackers would not run out of them. And despite both being very dangerous neither Mai nor Umbra had managed to hit a single attacker. Finally one of the men slipped past Mai's defenses and covered her mouth with a cloth. Mai passed out almost instantly. This left Umbra's back exposed so that another attacker could jump up and do the same thing to him. Umbra fought to remain awake, a fight that he ultimately lost. His last thought was that it was humiliating that these men had been able to beat him… if he lived though this he really needed to practice out of light form more often.

…

Solek

"And then I knocked him out of the ring." I laughed at Toph's stories of being the Blind Bandit.

"Wow, I bet he couldn't stand for a month!" I smiled at her.

"I think it was two months." She smiled. "And he never made fun of me again."

"Wow, being blind has never really slowed you down has it?" I asked.

"Not really, I've just sort of taken it in stride… there's no reason to let something get you down if you can't change it." I nodded.

"But if you could change it, would you?" Toph seemed to think about it for a second before shaking her head.

"Some times I wish I could see, but most of the time I can 'see' better than most people with my earthbending, I think that I've gotten so used to being blind that It'd be way do difficult to get used to seeing." I nodded. Suddenly Toph stopped. "Um, we're surrounded." Almost without warning twenty or so guys dressed all in black jumped from the trees. I took a defensive stance and looked around.

"Now, I just want to warn you guys… you're messing with the best earthbender in the world and a… what am I Toph?"

"Oh you're somewhere between that Bohrok-Kal and a normal human." She answered.

"That doesn't really help me… I guess that I'm pretty epic… although I really haven't had a chance to use my powers since the battle in Ba Sin Se." I thought out loud. The strange men must have gotten tired of our banter because they attacked us. Without even thinking I raised my right hand and sent several of them flying with a sonic blast. "Wow, sweet!" I yelled in excitement as I sent blast after blast at the attackers. Most of them were able to avoid the attacks but some of them were a bit slow and got hit. I could hear Toph earthbending behind me and smiled. They were undoubtedly being pummeled by her amazing skills. I turned to check on her and gasped when I saw that somehow one of them had managed to get in between us and had covered her mouth with a cloth. It must have had some sort drug on it because she fell to the ground instantly. I yelled in rage… that did it. All of the attackers surrounded me and one of them dragged Toph out of the way.

"That does it… you have now officially crossed the line!" Time seemed to slow down; I raised my arms and sent out a massive sonic attack. All of the attackers were sent flying into the nearby trees as I went berserk. My eyes clouded over and the entire world turned red. I flung sonic energy in every direction, not caring if it hit anyone, only enraged that they had dared to hurt Toph. It might have been an hour, or it might have only been a minute, but I eventually got tired out. I gasped for breath as I looked around. I was shocked by what I had done. Mangled bodies lay scattered around me and the surrounding area was completely decimated. Trees were ripped from the ground and the road was torn up. I looked around in horror as I realized that I had done this. I sank to my knees and covered my eyes.

"Solek!" Toph ran over to me. "Solek, it's ok, they didn't get me, I faked falling asleep and held my breath… I'm fine, Solek?" I barely heard her.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I couldn't do this… I'm not the one who killed them… but no one else was around… how could I have killed them?" I began to sob. I had killed, from a young age I had been taught to respect life, all life. I had never taken a life before. And to see that the attackers had once been living, moving creatures only made their still bodies worse. I began to openly cry, another thing I had never done. "What have I done?" I yelled to the sky. I grabbed my head with my arms and began to cry violently. Toph put her arms around me and tried to hold be still.

"Solek, stop it, you're going to hurt yourself!" she cried out urgently. I stopped crying to answer her.

"Maybe that's a good thing. I have hurt, I have killed, I have become something worse than a Bohrok-Kal. I didn't need to destroy and yet I did. I didn't even attempt to control my power. Do I really deserve to exist?" Toph slapped me.

"Don't say things like that! Of course you deserve to exist! If you didn't then would I be here?"

"No," I answered. "You would be somewhere else and safe, far away from any monsters like me." Toph growled and picked me up. She then bodily threw me on to an earth wall that she created and used earthbending to clamp my arms and legs to it.

"I don't EVER want to hear you talk like that again! Do you hear me?" she practically screamed in my face. "Now, you listen to me! You are not a monster! You are kind, and sweet… and… darn it… you're the only guy who I've ever cared what he thought about me!" I was shocked. How could she still feel that way?

"But, why? Even if you felt that way before I'm different now. I KILLED them Toph, I ended someone's life! I ended a lot of people's lives!"

"You're no different now then you were back then. If you were any different then you wouldn't have cared what happened to them. But you do care Solek… the reason that you care is your heart is way too big! And that's why I love you." With that she pressed her face against mine and kissed me. I couldn't do anything about it, my hands and legs were still trapped by her earth bonds. She suddenly earthbended the stone wall away and we fell to the ground. She wrapped her arms around me in a giant hug and continued kissing me. No matter how hard I tried to push her away she was always stronger. Finally she stopped and helped me up. "Now," she said. "I want you to remember that I did not fall for a fool… and only fools say that they shouldn't have existed." I shook my head.

"But Toph, it was my feelings for you that made me go berserk. Is it really safe to be around me? What if I do it again?" She punched me in the chest.

"Listen, you try to run from me and you'll be running a longer time then you ever lived in your home world! And when I catch you what happened to those men who attacked us will seem tame in comparison!" I rubbed my chest and gulped in the air that had been driven out of me. "And as for 'what if I do it again' you'll just have to learn how to control your powers." I realized that I had been foolish; even if I had killed a hundred people I shouldn't have thought that death or isolation was the only way out. I turned to the blind girl and hugged her.

"Thank you Toph, thank you so very, very much." She hugged me back. We stood there for about a minute before I turned and looked at all the people I had killed.

"We should bury them." Toph said. I nodded and we went to work. It wasn't easy and it took us the better part of two hours before we had gathered all of them and placed them in graves. I helped Toph carve a gravestone out of earth and we set it in front of their graves. We stood there and Toph held my hand as I cried. I knew that no matter how hard I tried I would never be the same after today. Today I had killed; today I had found a monster living inside of me that would never go away. I pledged myself to work on using my powers for good only. I took a step forward and placed my hand on my heart.

"Today I pledge on the graves of these men and women that I will find a way to redeem myself. I will find a way that my powers can help people. And I will atone for this loss." I looked at Toph. "Toph, I can't do this alone… will you help me?" She smiled and lightly punched my shoulder.

"Of course I will, you big dunderhead." We stood there and watched the graves until the sun went down. Somehow, I would find a way to atone for this. Mata Nui help me if I fail.

…

Down in the dark recesses of Mutran's lair something moved. Shadow stretched his new limbs and smiled in satisfaction. It wasn't a toa's body, but it was the next best thing. He shook his spiky spine and admired his blue body and golden limbs. So this was what it felt like to be a physical being, he liked it. He picked up a staff from the wall and changed his shape into a mouse. He then ran into a crack and was soon gone from the lab. He would lay low, for now, and when the time came he would finish his enemies, all of them, starting with Mutran.

* * *

Author's note: Wow, this was quite a chapter... a new outlook for Solek... a new body for Shadow... and a new master for Matoro. And yes, I checked, Piandao's butler is actually named Fat... you got to feel a little sorry for the guy. Please review.

PS. thank you to all those who have reviewed, your input is greatly appreciated. :)


	22. Friendly Relations

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: While it might seem as if the story is almost over don't worry, this story has got a long way to go. And just a warning, I know that several people were crushed when I didn't upload for a month (internet problems, not my fault) and I wanted to forewarn everyone that I will be starting classes for my Sophomore year of college at the end of August. Naturally this will slow down uploads considerably, but don't worry, I plan on finishing this story (I think some people might come after me if I didn't). Thanks for liking my work and please review! :)

Chapter 21

Friendly Relations

Mai

My head hurt. It felt like a thousand hog-monkeys were having a party inside of my brain. The rest of my body wasn't doing so well either. I groaned as I tried to stand up and decided that it wasn't worth it. Suddenly I realized what had happened. The fight with the strange attackers dressed in black, one of them had slipped through and put a strange cloth over my mouth. I opened my eyes to look around and saw that I was in the brig of one of the new airships that Azula had been so proud of. I looked around and saw that I was chained to the ground with a long chain that connected at my feet, but for some reason my hands were free. Fools, I thought to myself as I slowly reached for my hidden knives, there was no way they could have found them all. I reached down and realized something, they hadn't found them all… they had removed my outer clothes! I was wearing practically nothing! Part of me was impressed that I was so good at hiding knives that they would feel it necessary to remove any chance that they had missed one. But most of me was just glad that Umbra wasn't anywhere near to see me.

"So you're awake? Good, I was getting worried about you." I turned and saw that Umbra was chained to the wall by both his hands and feet. He looked haggard and had several cuts and scrapes over his entire body. I started blushing as I realized that he had woken up first, and had probably been staring at me.

"Um, Umbra, did you…?"

"No, I did was not awake when they removed your clothes… I don't understand why you humans worry about your body being covered at all times." I glanced at him, he had also had his shirt and pants taken was just in his undergarment.

"How can you be ok about this?" I asked while trying to find something, anything to cover me. I found an old sack in the corner and quickly ripped a hole in it for my head.

"I'm not 'ok' with it… I just don't understand why you humans feel that way." With a few deft movements I was in my makeshift dress. I glanced at Umbra and blushed.

"Wow, you're really well built." I quietly said. Umbra shrugged.

"I've never really thought about it like that… upper body strength doesn't really matter when running." I turned myself away from him so that I could keep the thoughts that threatened to overwhelm my mind at bay. "Mai? Why are you looking the other way?" he asked.

"No reason… so… have they shown themselves at all?"

"Not since I woke up, I've been trying to figure out why I couldn't change into a light particle back there. I think I might have done something to myself by running while the Mask of Time was active."

"Can you change back now?" I asked hopefully, if he could then he would be able to burn though the chains and we could escape.

"If I could would I still be chained to the wall?" He asked.

"Good point, so, I wonder what they want with us."

"I don't know, but I don't think that it's going to be a good thing." He sighed. "Mai, I'm sorry for getting you involved in this. If I hadn't been traveling with you they probably would have left you alone."

"And what makes you think that?" I asked.

"Because they only chained your feet." I thought about it and had to agree with him. I had not had much to do with the fall of Ba Sin Se, which I assumed these people were mad about because they were in a fire nation airship, but Umbra had been instrumental in destroying the forces within the walls. I sighed in frustration.

"So, now what do we do?"

"We regain strength and do what they ask as long as they don't try to hurt us. We will get out of this… we just have to be careful in how we do it." I nodded; trust Umbra to always have a plan. "In the mean time… would you mind scratching my nose?" The request sounded so odd coming from him that I turned and stared. "It's just that I have the most horrible itch and I obviously can't reach it." The situation was so absurd that I started to chuckle. "What?" Umbra asked in confusion.

"It's just that, both of us are in our underclothes, you're chained to the wall, and I'm chained to the floor in an airship that is most likely heading to the fire nation, and you just asked me to scratch your nose." Umbra thought about it for a minute and then stared at me.

"And what's funny about that? My nose really itches!" I chucked to myself as I got up and scratched it for him. "Ah, thank you." I then sat back down and tried to rest. I wondered how the others were doing, if they had been able to catch me and Umbra then would they be able to take down Solek and Toph as well?"

…

Solek yawned as he stood up. They had been so tired out last night that they had gone to sleep right after finding a suitable camp site. Which meant somewhere that Toph could earthbend a tent and he could find a large tree to sleep in. Even if he couldn't fly Solek still felt comfortable away from the ground. Solek looked down at himself and frowned.

"That does it… I need a bath." He snuck out of camp, hoping not to awaken Toph who was sleeping in her stone tent. He followed the sound of running water until he found a river. Solek quickly shed his shirt and shorts and did a cannonball right into the water. He splashed around a little before swimming over to a small waterfall and letting the water wash his body clean. He stood there for a second, letting the water wash the blood and grime off of his body. Solek closed his eyes and sighed. He froze when he heard a splashing sound. Quickly taking a defensive stance he looked around to see who had made the noise. Seeing nothing he relaxed a little, and that was when Toph pounced.

"Wahoo!" She yelled as she dropped from the top of the small waterfall to land squarely on Solek's back. Toph smiled as she tried to hold him underwater for a second before he broke loose and splashed her.

"Knock it off Toph… you might have made me hurt you or something." Solek objected as he wiped the water out of his face. He blinked to clear his eyes and then his jaw dropped at the sight of Toph in her underclothes. Solek turned away quickly. "Toph… um… you're kind of in your underwear." Toph put her hands on her hips and smiled at him.

"And why would I be? I am washing off, or wasn't that obvious? Would you prefer that I wasn't wearing anything?" she asked.

"NO!" Solek said a little louder than he would have liked. "It's just that… Um, I know you can't see me… but I can see you… so… it's kind of… distracting." Toph came up from behind and covered his eyes with her hands while getting much closer than Solek would have liked.

"There, problem solved." Solek practically jumped out of the water and ran over to where his clothes were.

"Gee I think that I'm clean enough I'll go get a fire going bye Toph!" with that he ran towards camp at a speed that Umbra would have thought fast. Toph smiled as she paddled around. Solek might think that he had changed but he was definitely the same goofy guy as before.

…

Master Piandao listened quietly as Iroh explained as best he could, with a little help from Matoro, the events of the past few weeks. If he was surprised by the story he didn't show it.

"So you have come here to learn from me… is that it?" Matoro nodded.

"I'm already a powerful elemental fighter, but my most recent battle showed me that I need to be a good fighter in other areas as well." Piandao stroked his beard as he thought.

"It's not that I'm refusing to train you… I know that if the threat you told me about is real I should do all that is in my power to help stop it… but I want to know, why the sword? As you yourself have said you need to improve but the sword is only one way to do so. Why did you pick me as the master that you wanted?" Matoro thought for a minute.

"I guess partially because, honestly, you were close by. I don't have all year to train and I needed someone close. Also because I have used a sword before, and it has always been a source of frustration to me that I wasn't better with it."

"Do you have this sword?" Piandao asked. Matoro shook his head.

"No, I lost it in my fight with the shadow form." Piandao nodded.

"Very well, I will train you."

"I would like to be trained as well, if it's at all possible." Everyone turned to Sokka in surprise. "Look at me… I'm the only one in this group who hasn't been trained. Even Suki is awesome because of her training, and the rest of you have your elements to back your skills up. I'd just like to make a bigger contribution to the group." Piandao smiled.

"Well, I guess I'd have time for two of you."

"All right!" Sokka whooped. Matoro stood up and offered his fist to Sokka.

"Guess we'll be training together, eh brother?" Sokka stared at his fist in confusion.

"Um, are you trying to punch me?" Matoro looked surprised and a little hurt.

"What? No! This is called a 'fist bump'. Back in Bionicle toa use it to congratulate each other… it also signifies a close sense of brotherhood between two heroes." Sokka looked at the fist and then grinned. He brought his own fist up and bumped Matoro.

"Sounds good to me… brother." Matoro smiled, remembering a time when he would have done this with the other toa Ignika.

"Brother, I've missed being called that… glad to be training with you, brother." Katara smiled. It felt good to know that Matoro was finding his place in his new family.

…

"So… I understand that you're opposed to being called 'cute'… but would it be ok if I hugged you?"

"NO!" Lhikan yelled loudly as he refused to even look at Ty Lee.

"I think you are ok with it but you're embarrassed about it being ok." This time Lhikan glared at her.

"What? Are you mentally deranged? Do I look like I want a hug? Do I? Because you are so close to being incinerated it isn't even funny!"

"Oh… isn't it sweet when he threatens me?" Ty Lee gushed.

"That does it!" Zuko sighed as he quickly grabbed Lhikan and stopped him from choking Ty Lee. Lhikan and Ty Lee had been fighting the entire time. It was getting really hard to believe that Lhikan was a great hero.

"Ty Lee! Stop bothering Lhikan… and Lhikan, start acting like a hero!" Lhikan glared at Ty Lee who smiled innocently.

"I'm not trying to bother him… it's just that he's so cute!"

"I AM NOT CUTE!" Lhikan yelled. Zuko gave him a look and he tried to calm down. "Sorry, it seems that whatever is affecting my mind is growing… I'm having a harder time controlling it."

"It's called being six… you'll grow out of it, hopefully." Zuko grumbled. The four started walking again and Zuko whispered to Jin in frustration. "I swear those two might as well be related for all of that bickering!"

"I think it's cute." Jin smiled. "And it's nice to see Ty Lee smile again." Zuko thought about this… Ty Lee hadn't been smiling much since they had met up with Matoro and the others. He guessed that she was still sad about Matoro choosing Katara instead of her.

"I guess it also makes a convincing cover up story." He joked. "We could just tell anyone who asks that we're all related."

"Well, maybe not all of us should be siblings." Jin blushed as she took his hand and squeezed it. Zuko smiled and squeezed back.

"Yeah, let's keep things believable." They continued to walk, trying to ignore Lhikan's open hostility conflicting with Ty Lee's bouncy spirit behind them.

"So… how are we supposed to find this Tuyet again?" Zuko asked.

"We won't have too, she'll find me." Lhikan pointed up at the sky. "Every toa has a spirit star; apparently they follow you even if you cross between worlds. She'll see it and know that it's mine. Then she'll try to follow it to where I am." Ty Lee looked up and tried to see the star. Lhikan sighed in frustration. "No, you can't see them during the day."

"So can't we just follow her star to wherever she is?" Ty Lee asked. Lhikan glared at her.

"No, she doesn't have one anymore. Only true toa have them."

"Then why do you have one?" asked Ty Lee. "I mean… you aren't a toa anymore… you're a human?" Lhikan was about to object to what she said until he thought about it.

"Actually, you might be right… I guess I'm not a toa anymore. So that would mean that…"

"That means that she won't know where to find you." Zuko finished with a sigh; they were back to square one.

"Oh I wouldn't say that." A strange voice said. The four turned around to see an attractive woman in her mid twenties riding a wave of water. Lhikan tried to draw his swords but gave up when it became apparent they were too heavy. Instead he created blades out of fire and took a defensive stance.

"Tuyet." He snarled. She looked shocked for a minute and then laughed.

"Lhikan… is that you? By the Great Spirit, you certainly have changed haven't you? I must say that I expected you to be a little…" She looked him over. "Taller. At least your good looks weren't lost."

"Cut the small talk Tuyet… we both know why you're here!" She laughed again

"We do, do we? You always assumed that you knew everything, didn't you Lhikan." The evil toa sighed. "It's a shame that we have to fight, I'm sure that together we could find a way to make you a more… acceptable… age." Lhikan glared at her.

"I'd be lying if I said that that didn't sound tempting." He admitted. "But I know that you cannot be trusted. Please give yourself up, don't make this any harder than it has to be." Tuyet laughed.

"Same old Lhikan, when are you going to see that doing things by the book doesn't always work? Sometimes you need to take the law into your own hands to get things done." With that she raised her arm and the wave started to move away. "I'll give you a choice Lhikan; you can join me in my crusade to save the world. Or you can die trying to stop me. Think about it as you try to find me." With that the wave swept away so fast that Umbra would have had a hard time keeping up, in human form anyway. Zuko turned to Lhikan.

"What did she mean, save the world?" Lhikan turned off the fire blades before answering.

"She's always believed that she was saving the world." He shook his head sadly. "That's what makes her so dangerous. She believes with all of her heart that she's right." He shook himself off and started walking after her. "Come on, she wants me to find her, so that's what I'm going to do." The other three looked at each other and then set off after him. Lhikan knew with a deathly certainty that only one of them would be walking away from this one. There was no place to keep her, no trick that could turn her, this time it was to the death.

…

Toph

When I finished washing off I got dressed and started to walk back to camp. I thought about trying to sneaking up on Solek and surprising him again. But then I decided that he'd probably been surprised enough for today. I was getting closer to camp when I sensed some interesting vibrations. It felt like a giant… thing… was walking around camp. I ran the rest of the way back; I was so worried about Solek that I didn't stop until I could feel his heartbeat. To my surprise he was laughing as a large metal animal was licking him. It had a large horn and a long tail. Its claws were large enough to rip though stone. I gawked at it until Solek noticed me.

"Hey, Toph, I found that ride we were talking about." If I had seeing eyes I would have been staring at it in wonder.

"What… what is that?" I asked.

"It's a Kikanalo! They're a type of Rahi from Bionicle… I wonder how it got here?"

…

Earlier, in Bionicle

Brutaka was bored, and that was never good. The last time he had gotten bored he had dropped a Tahtorak into the middle of Metru Nui. He was thinking about doing something similar now. With a smile he watched as a small herd of Kikanalo played nearby, with just a thought he made a portal swallow one of them and sent it to the dimension that Solek was in. He grinned at the image of a metal Rahi creating massive havoc in that world of annoying little flesh bags. Having dimensional powers certainly was fun.

…

Toph

I was amazed. The Kikanalo was massive. It must have stood at least twenty feet tall and was almost a hundred feet long. Despite its large and forbidding appearance it was licking Solek as if it had found a lost friend. He laughed and stroked its head.

"Poor guy, you must have been taken from your herd. I bet that you're all by yourself. Don't worry big guy, you can stay with us!" The creature seemed to like this idea and spun around happily. This made its tail smash my earth tent and flattened several trees. I shook my head in awe.

"With something like that on our side I don't think that we'll have to worry about being attacked. But what are we going to call him? Kikanalo is a bit of a mouthful." Solek thought for a second and then grinned.

"We'll call him Tank… because he is one." I nodded.

"That might be the understatement of the year. Well then, welcome to the family Tank." The giant animal came over and licked me with its long metal tongue. Solek grinned happily.

"Yay! No more walking!" I smiled at him.

"Um, so… how do we ride this thing?" It took us a while but eventually Solek figured out how to climb up on its back.

"Ok Tank, follow the road!" he called to the massive beast. It bellowed happily and we set off. Tank seemed to like to jump like a rabbaroo and covered massive amounts of distance quickly. I held on to Solek tightly and promised myself that the next chance we had I would buy a saddle. Not even I wanted to have to ride a metal back forever.

…

Umbra

I tried to put a brave face on for Mai but in my heart I knew that we were in a bad spot. Without my ability to change into a light particle I was seriously handicapped. I might not be able to protect her if we were tortured or hurt. I played everything that had happened to me though my head to try to find out what could have made my powers go away. The only thing that I could think of was the mask of time being used while I was running. But that shouldn't have affected my powers. I gulped; there was one other thing that had changed since I had come here… I had fallen in love. Could it be that Mai was the cause of my loss of power? I shook my head, that idea was just silly. There was no way that my love for Mai was stopping my power, so what was it? I had used my power in Ba Sin Se, why couldn't I use it now?" My thought process was interrupted when I heard footsteps. I quickly looked up to see one of the attackers. He was wearing black all over except for his head. I could see the short, black hair that covered his head. I could also see that a scar ran from his hairline to where his mask started, right above his nose. Whoever he was, this person was not to be taken lightly.

"Where are you talking us?" I asked.

"To our master, you will regret trying to overcome him."

"Why are you here?" Mai asked. "Did you just come to gloat?"

"No, I came to tell you that the men I sent after your friends were defeated, apparently your friends were powerful enough to kill them and then kind enough to bury them." I smiled, yeah, that was Solek for you.

"Well, thanks for the good news." I said.

"It's not good news, because they died I will personally be going to kill them… the fire nation has also sent several platoons to take them out." With that he left. "Do not hope that this will get any better, believe me… it won't" I turned to Mai.

"Don't listen to him, I'll get you out of here if it's the last thing I do!" Mai put on a brave smile.

"I trust you Umbra."

"But am I worthy of that trust?" I whispered under my breath. I wondered how long I would last without my powers. And how long would Mai last without me to get her out of here?

* * *

Ok, in response to a review that was given on this chapter I feel I should elaborate. The reviewer had a problem with the idea of Tuyet being in the story because she had been, and I quote, "sliced in half when she tried to follow Takanuva through a portal." This is indeed true… however, having Tuyet still works for several reasons. A. it was not Tuyet from the main Bionicle universe who died because of the portal, B. it is outright admitted that Tuyet in the main universe might have survived, and even if she didn't then there are other universes, and finally C. Did you not realize that most of the Bionicle characters I'm using are dead in their own universe anyway?

Just thought I'd clear things up.

_ToaofIce_


	23. Light and Darkness

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: Hope you guys don't mind flashbacks because I have a few of them show up in this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 22

Light and Darkness

[A few weeks back]

Mai watched as her group of assassins and trackers loaded the ship up with supplies. Soon they would leave for the earth kingdom, and then they would find Zuko and Ty Lee and kill them. She was still in shock that something like this could happen to her. There was a pinch on the back of her neck and she slapped it.

"Cursed mosquitoes, I thought that they only came out on hot days." Grumbling she walked over to make sure that everything was going as planned. She didn't see a shadowy figure smile evilly and then vanish.

…

[Present time]

Mai

I woke up in a cold sweat. Umbra was still sleeping, his chest rose and fell in a gentle pattern that defied the position he was forced to sleep in. Tried to find a more comfortable position so I could go back to sleep. Although I wasn't sure I wanted that. I had been having nightmares lately. And in all of them I was all alone in darkness, trapped far away from my friends. I shuddered as I remembered it. But as bad as that was there was one that was worse. Umbra and I were running down a hallway when a horrific monster broke through a steel wall and attacked us. It had been eight feet tall and hunched over with spines protruding from its back. Covered in metal plating there didn't seem to be a scrap of organic matter on it. Umbra had tried to fight it but it had slashed his chest open with a massive claw. He fell bleeding to the ground and the creature came after me. I would always back up against the wall and scream for help, but it never came. The creature would always pick me up by my neck and would hold me to the wall, and then it would speak.

"To think that if you had been a little less selfish your beloved Umbra might live and be able to stop all of this… tragic, isn't it?" and with that the creature would laugh as thousands more like it would swarm over the entire world, and then I would wake up. I glanced over at Umbra just to assure myself that he was ok. He was smiling in his sleep. I was glad that at least one of us could have pleasant dreams. I couldn't help but admire his physical strength; I didn't know anyone else who would be able to sleep while being chained to the wall. I smiled, for some reason I always felt safer when Umbra was around. He had been around quite a lot lately… suddenly I realized that his problems with his powers had started after he began hanging out with me. We had been together almost constantly after Ba Sin Se, could I be the reason his powers were fading?

…

Solek

According to Toph the trip to Omashu should have taken weeks. Tank was able to make it in a matter of days. His long jumps covered massive amounts of distance that, personally, I was glad I didn't have to walk. I looked in awe at the city, it wasn't as big as Ba Sin Se but I thought it looked more impressive. It rose up into the sky and was surrounded by cliffs.

"Wow, I'd hate to try to break into that city!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, makes you wonder how the fire nation managed it." Toph smiled.

"It doesn't look like they did." I said.

"But Aang told me that the fire nation had taken Omashu." She insisted.

"Really, well then, someone took it back." I smiled. "I know you can't see it but there is an interesting lack of fire nation flags in the city." I looked again just to be sure. I was right, there was earth kingdom flags flying from the towers. It also looked like a celebration was in full swing.

"Sounds like someone's having a party… should we join them?" Toph asked.

"Why not?" I answered. We quickly jumped off of Tank. I patted his head apologetically. "Sorry boy, you're a little big to go inside a big city like Omashu." Tank gave a little nod and sat down under some trees. Toph looked in Tank's direction and shook her head.

"I'm still getting used to how smart he is… I guess I should have expected it, especially after meeting Appa. But it's still a little surprising."

"Yeah, let's go check out the city." I smiled excitedly.

…

Katara

The few days of training was over, and Matoro was so tired that he barely made it to his room before collapsing on the bed.

"Ow, I had no idea I was that out of practice." He gasped. I sat down next to him and began to heal the few reaming wounds that he had.

"Well, you need to remember that you're still recovering from a massive fight… don't overdo it." I warned him.

"As if I could forget," he smiled. "You still wince when you look at my side… is it that bad?"

"Take a look for yourself." I said and held up a small mirror. He grimaced at the scar.

"Wow, how did I live through that fight again?"

"By the skin of your teeth." I smiled.

"Oh, yeah, remind me never to do something like that again." He groaned as he tried to sit up. I pushed him back down.

"Oh, no you don't, you might be training to fight the fire lord and whatever threat came from your world but as far as I'm concerned you need to stay in bed as much as possible, if you don't then your remaining wounds could get worse." He reluctantly lay back.

"Huh, here I am, after a battle that would look commonplace in Bionicle, resting up while a threat still looms over the entire world. Nuju would have a fit."

"I don't care what Nuju thinks but I will have a fit if you hurt yourself again!" I said. Matoro grinned soothingly.

"I know," He said, "different body, different rules."

"And don't you forget it." I smiled.

…

[Right after the battle at Ba Sin Se]

Umbra checked to make sure that no one was watching. Seeing that for the first time since the battle he was alone he snuck out of the hospital. It wasn't that he didn't like it there; it was just that for some reason all of the younger nurses on the staff had decided to try their hardest to be around him at all times. He snuck out to try to find a private place somewhere in the city. And with a little work he found it. It was a solitary tree on a small hill outside of the main city. Umbra sighed and leaned against the tree, alone at last. He closed his eyes but opened them almost right away as he heard someone approaching. Umbra quickly stood up and hid behind the tree, he hoped that it wasn't anyone from the hospital. He was surprised to see Iroh coming up. Deciding that hiding would not be a good idea Umbra stepped out into the open.

"Um, hello Iroh." Iroh seemed to be surprised to see him there.

"Hello Umbra, escaped the hospital?" Iroh's old eyes twinkled with understanding.

"Yeah, something like that. I found this old tree out here and thought it looked like as good a place as any to rest." Iroh nodded.

"It is, this place is very special to me… do you know why?" Umbra shook his head. "My son also rests here... I buried him here almost twelve years ago."

"I… I am sorry for your loss, but I am confused. What is a 'son'?" Umbra asked. Iroh looked surprised.

"You mean that you don't have families in your world?" The guardian shook his head. "Then where do you come from?"

"We always were, the Rahi grow old and die but for some reason we have no need to ever… what is it you call it here? Reproduce? And we rarely have families." Iroh shook his head.

"That is a pity, a family is one of the greatest joys that this world can hold." The old firebender smiled. "My son was my only joy after my wife died; it almost broke my heart when he died."

"If you don't mind me asking… how did he die?" Umbra asked. Iroh sighed.

"Back then I was the highest ranking general in the fire nation army, and the heir to the throne. I was attacking Ba Sin Se to try to conquer it… and even though I broke though the outer wall I was defeated. I just lost heart after my son died." Umbra was shocked.

"But, then how did you get to be exiled?"

"My brother stole the throne and, after the incident with prince Zuko, I decided to leave the fire nation. My actions helped the avatar so my brother called me a traitor and banished me." Umbra nodded.

"Iroh, I have a rather odd question to ask you."

"What is it?" Iroh asked.

"I realized that you are unfamiliar with my world and how my powers work, but still I must know. Has there ever been a case of a bender losing his powers?" Iroh shook his head.

"No, not to my knowledge, why?"

"Because I believe that I am losing my ability to turn into a light particle." Umbra confessed. "I have tried it several times since the battle and I have been unable to make a complete transformation." Iroh shrugged.

"I understand how this is a problem but won't you get your powers back?"

"That's the strangest part of it…" Umbra said quietly. "My powers seem to be weaker around Mai, I know it sounds silly but what if my feelings for her are draining my powers?" Iroh smiled.

"Power is deceptive, my young friend. If it is her that is causing your loss in abilities then you will most likely have to choose between her and your powers."

"I was afraid of that." Umbra confessed. "I just wish I knew what to do… if I leave her then I might get my powers back and be able to save this world… but I don't really want to do that." Iroh smiled.

"In my experience love is worth more than any power or ability. Power is overrated anyway, the more you have the more you want. Even if you would use the power for a good cause, such as saving the world, you would never forgive yourself if you let her go." Umbra nodded and stood up.

"Thank you Iroh, I will have to think about this. I wish I could have met your son, I would have liked to see what someone would be like after having a lifetime to learn from someone as wise as you." With that Umbra bowed and walked back towards the city. Iroh smiled at him as he left. It didn't matter what world you were from, some things were simply truth.

…

[Present time]

Umbra

I awoke. Mai was staring at me from across the cell. When she saw that I was awake she blushed and looked away.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing, I was just wishing that I could read your mind." She teased.

"Believe me, if you could it would most likely make you go insane, I've seen things that would make your brain shrivel up in horror." She smiled and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Really, I sort of doubt that."

"One of the other guardians could turn into the worst nightmare of whoever was fighting it… I got to see some rather… interesting forms of his."

"Well, never mind." She said. "How long do you think we've been in here?"

"Roughly four days… long enough to get into the fire nation capital if Sokka's maps are correct." I answered. "We should be landing soon." As if on cue the entire ship shuddered to a stop. I could hear metal boots clomping on the deck above us. I knew that soon they would come to take us away. I turned to Mai.

"Listen, if they separate us then make things up, don't tell them where the others are. And don't worry, I'll come and get you as soon as I break out." Mai smiled and started to say something but was interrupted.

"A good plan, but I have no intention of separating you." I looked up and felt my heart stop, it was a Makuta." He stood about eight feet tall and had somehow retained his original form from Bionicle. He grinned at my shock. "Ah, Umbra, the guardian of the Mask of Life… you should be interesting to study."

"Demon of shadow, how did you get into this world? All the Makuta perished when Teridax betrayed them to the energy storm!" I snarled at him. He laughed quietly before answering.

"You simple minded fool, do you really think that Teridax was able to get us all? When I saw the energy storm I knew what that pompous fool was up to… I studied the storm in what little time I had and I thought I had found a way to control it. It turned out that I was right, partially. I could control it, but not as a weapon. Instead it worked like a slingshot and launched me through time and space to this world." I shook my head in disbelief.

"Even if I could trust one of your kind I would find that story a little unusual."

"I admit it's a little farfetched." The Makuta smiled. "However, I am the Makuta Mutran… the brilliant scientist who came up with the Rahkshi and the shadow leaches… why, without me even the great Teridax might have failed. I am also, accidentally by the way, responsible for your loss of power." I stared at him in disbelief.

"But… how?" I asked.

"Oh, I grant you that I'm not directly responsible… she is." He said while pointing at a shocked Mai. "You see, when I had first come to this world I wanted to see how these creatures who call themselves humans would react to being injected with a part of my shadow. I chose subjects at random, and your pretty little girlfriend was one of them. All of the other subjects died after a week, but for some reason she survived. It puzzled me at first, but then I found out why the others died… would you like to know why?" he asked.

"I have a feeling that you're going to tell me whether I want to hear it or not." I glared at him.

"Well, all the other subjects had died from the lack of light in their bodies. It seems that humans would not make very good Makuta because they are in a constant need of both light and shadow. My shadow upset that delicate balance and killed them. But she survived because she found a source of light energy to tap into, three guesses who that was."

"Oh no… you don't mean that?" Mai started.

"That's right little one, the only reason you're alive is because you're draining the light from Umbra, ironic name by the way… did you know that it means shadow?"

"Yeah, it was a cover up to hide my true powers." I snarled at him.

"Really, are the Order of Mata Nui that lame? Anyway, your abilities allow you to constantly produce light energy. So her draining will not kill you, all it does is turn you into one of them, powerless, and unable to defeat me or my shadowbenders." I snarled at him.

"You're lying!"

"My dear Umbra, I might be a pathological liar when it comes to most things but I do not lie about my scientific breakthroughs." He laughed. "Especially if they are this entertaining, think about it… If you leave her, or she dies, you will get all of your powers back. But if you leave her while you are alive then she will slowly dissipate into shadow and die. It's a wonderfully horrible situation."

"You sicken me!" I yelled. "When I get out of these chains…"

"You'll do what? Hit me? Face it you fool, as long as you hold onto your love for this human you will never have your powers again… and if you let her die then you risk becoming worse the me." He chuckled. "But don't worry; I won't let either of you die anytime soon, I need to study you first. Guards!" he yelled at the Dai-Lee who had come up behind him. "Take these two to my lab, and give them the same cell." I struggled as best I could, but without my powers I was unable to get lose. Mai was too shocked to do anything and went along with her guards as if she was in a trance.

…

Mai

It was all because of me, everything that had happened to us was all because of me. I glanced at Umbra and saw that he was trying to fight his guards. But he didn't have a chance. As long as I was alive he would never be able to save the world, he wouldn't even be able to save himself. I made a decision, Umbra was more important to me than anything else in the world. With a sudden burst of energy I surprised my guards and ran for the edge of the airship, if I could throw myself off then Umbra would get his powers back and be able to defeat this Mutran and the fire lord. I was almost to the side when I felt a hand grab me and hold me back. I turned and saw that it was Umbra who had caught me.

"What are you trying to do?" he yelled at me.

"If I die then you will be able to beat this thing." I said as I started crying. "I'm not important enough to doom the world just because I'm too selfish to give you up!" Umbra grabbed me in a hug and held me tight. I was to shocked to answer back as he berated me.

"You fool, you wonderful selfless fool. You're more important to me then my powers ever were, or ever will be. I don't care what he tries to do to me, I will never leave you. It's Matoro's job to save the world, I just have to protect you."

"Oh, Umbra." was all I could manage to get out as I cried on his shoulder. "Why won't you just forget me? I'll be the death of you sooner or later."

"I don't care." He said stubbornly. "All I care about is us, as I said, my powers are not important." I continued crying on his shoulder. With all the bad things I had done in my life how did I deserve someone like him? The guards caught up with us and snapped handcuffs on us. Umbra smiled at me as we were lead down into the palace. "Don't worry; we can still get out of this."

"Do they teach optimism classes in the Order of Mata Nui or are you just clueless?" Mutran mocked him. I barely heard the Makuta. I knew now that Umbra would trade anything in the entire world for me, even his powers. And because of that I knew that, somehow, we would manage to find a way out.

…

Shadow

I rolled my eyes at the pointless spectacle of emotion that Umbra and the human girl had put on. How did these humans hope to ever defeat a Makuta if they weren't willing to give up everything in the process? I had to laugh at Mutran, here I was, sitting in plain sight, and he had no idea I was there. Granted I was in the shape of a bat hanging from the top of the palace, but still. It was surprisingly fun for people to think that you were dead. It was an incredible stroke of luck that had given me the power to shapeshift in my new body. However, even I was a little worried about all of my "brothers" who were currently sleeping beneath the palace. Did Azula even know about them? Most likely not, as leaving that many "Sons of Makuta" around was not a good life decision. I could only guess what Mutran wanted to use the for, and none of my guesses ended very well for this world. Chucked to myself, if the chance came I would kill Mutran and assume control of his army in his stead. Then this world would be mine! I looked down below at the plaice grounds… so many people, who had no idea that under their very feet there slept and army that would make an army of toa look tame. The Rahkshi were coming, and nothing in the world would be able to stop them.

* * *

Author's Note: So THAT'S how Mutran got there... I was wondering about that ;). Hope you guys are enjoying the story because it's going to get pretty wild here pretty soon. Please review and tell me what you think.


	24. Darkness Rises

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 23

Darkness rises

Lhikan walked with at determination that defied his age. Zuko, Jin and Ty Lee were hard pressed to keep up.

"Doesn't he ever get tired?" Zuko grumbled after a few hours of walking in the general direction that Tuyet had gone.

"Even if he did do you think he would stop?" asked Jin. "He feels responsible for her; he's going to keep going until he finds her on meets the ocean."

"Whichever happens first." Ty Lee agreed. As it turned out they found the ocean first just as it was getting dark.

"Great… now we have to swim." Lhikan grumbled as he walked towards the water. Zuko came up and carried him back towards where the girls were preparing a camp. "Hey! What are you doing?"

"Even if you have some sort of otherworldly energy powering you WE need to sleep." Zuko said as he plopped Lhikan down around the small fire. "So sit down and rest, we'll catch up with them tomorrow." Lhikan crossed his legs and sighed.

"Yes, of course, you're right… I am sorry for being inconsiderate." Ty Lee smiled at him.

"You're six… it's to be expected." Lhikan glared at her.

"But I'm not six! I'm thousands of years old, not counting the time I spent dead! I should be able to control my own mind, but for some reason I don't have that ability!"

"You're going to love puberty." Zuko laughed.

"What is 'puberty'?"

"Probably about the worst part about being a human, it'll hit in about six years or so." Jin laughed.

"Great, so my existence will get worse… lovely." Lhikan grumbled.

"Oh, it's not so bad after it's over." Ty Lee smiled. "Who knows, in a few years you could be begging me to hug you."

"That has as much chance of happening as you have of winning a fight against a Tahtorak."

"How good of a chance is that?" Ty Lee asked.

"A Tahtorak is a massive 40 foot tall dragon Rahi. It possesses the destructive potential of an entire army." Lhikan answered.

"So… I would lose?"

"You would lose so badly that the universe would strike your name from existence so that it didn't die of embarrassment." Lhikan said with a smug grin.

"Oh… really?"

"You take everything literally, don't you?" Lhikan snarled. Zuko shook his head in frustration.

"Seriously, can't you two be in the same dimension as each other without arguing?" he said.

"Not likely…"

"Probably not… unless he admits that he wants me to hug him."

"Not in a thousand lifetimes!" Lhikan said.

"Guess not." Ty Lee shrugged. Zuko shook his head and turned to Jin.

"If we ever have kids I hope that they don't argue like that… I don't know if I could take it… Jin?" the earth kingdom girl was staring off into space. "Jin!"

"Hmm, oh! Sorry Zuko, you kind of lost me after 'if we ever have kids'." Zuko chuckled.

"Well, at least someone is happy." Lhikan grumbled.

…

Matoro

"One, two, nicely done Matoro!" I was in the middle of one of Master Piandao's training sessions. I had gotten quite good over the past week. But I still felt as if I could do better. I swung my sword with a grace that I had never had before, and I still felt slow. In comparison to Piandao and even Sokka I was only mediocre… although to any less trained swordsman I would seem to be a master. I was fighting Sokka at the moment and was doing better than usual. I blocked a stab to my chest and countered with a slash to his left leg, which he blocked. This was how our battles usually went, even though Sokka was obviously the better sword fighter we were both so good at predicting what the other would do that we rarely landed a hit. Suki had remarked that it looked more like a dance then a swordfight; she had changed her mind when Sokka had challenged her to a duel and had won.

"Getting tired yet?" Sokka asked breathlessly.

"No, you?" I gasped. We had been sparing for the better part of two hours and both of us were way beyond our usual tiring point, not that either of us would admit it… we had made a little competition between the two of us to see who could go the longest in a swordfight.

"Alright you two, you can stop now." Piandao smiled as he shook his head. "You're making me tired just watching you." We bowed respectively and walked over to the table that he and Iroh were sitting at. Iroh took one look at us and smiled.

"You boys have certainly been going at it hard, haven't you?" We looked at each other and smiled. We were covered in sweat and red marks where an attack had actually gotten through.

"You could say that." I smiled as I sat down.

"Yeah, you could." Sokka agreed as he pored himself some water. Piandao smiled.

"You boys have done well; I have never seen a pupil throw themselves into their training as much as you two. I think that you are finally ready to make your swords." Sokka whooped and we fist bumped each other. After we had washed off Piandao took us to the forge behind his house. He showed us a large lump of black metal.

"What is that?" asked Sokka.

"This is a meteor, a chunk of rock from space. I was saving it up for a sword that would have no equal… and I want you two to use it." We looked at each other and smiled. The next few hours were spent chipping pieces off and mantling down the metal. When we finally had enough Piandao pulled us aside and spoke to us. "You are about to make a weapon that is an extension of who you are. I could train you for as long as I had left to live but if the sword is not from yourself then you will not be able to wield it with any success. Take some time and think about what kind of blade you want, you won't get to change it after the forging has begun." We nodded. This was one decision that we didn't want to take lightly.

…

Solek

If Ba Sing Se was the capital of the earth kingdom than it ran a close race with Omashu for most impressive. The city was even more impressive due to the fact that it was in the middle of a very large victory party. From what I could gather the city had been taken over by the fire nation and had been liberated by their king on the day of the eclipse. Toph and I walked though the city in amazement of what a simple act of liberating the city could do. I snacked on some fried dough that Toph had given me, it was really good.

"So, I guess that coming here wasn't really necessary, was it?" I asked Toph between mouthfuls. She nodded.

"I guess if their king liberated the city then we don't have to." I smiled. I was secretly relieved, after that battle with the strange attackers in black I had little desire to use my powers again. Suddenly a guard came up and tapped Toph's shoulder.

"Excuse me miss, am I right in assuming that you are Toph Bei Fong, friend of the late Avatar?" She nodded. "King Bumi would like to speak with you." Toph looked in my direction and raised her eyebrow at me. I shrugged, who knew what the king would want with us.

…

Umbra tried to hold in the screams of pain that were threatening to escape. Mutran was 'studying' him. That is to say, Mutran was enjoying himself while applying painful tests to ever part of Umbra's all too human body. Mai was crying desperately in the corner.

"Stop, please just stop… can't you see that he is in pain!" she cried. "I'll tell you anything you want to know, just stop!"

"You mistake me for a torturer, my dear… I am not trying to get information from either of you; I am merely studying a very interesting specimen. I doubt that any scientist has ever studied the effects the Mask of Life has on the aging process. Tell me Umbra, does this hurt?" With that he pulled another lever and sent an electric shock through my body. I did not reward him with as much as a peep. I turned and managed a small smile at Mai, just to let her know that I was ok. Mutran continued to study me in various ways. Measuring my weight, height and even the rate at which my hair had grown since I had become a human. I wished Mai didn't have to watch it, but I didn't know how far I could be from her before she would start to die. Apparently neither did Mutran because he insisted that we be kept together at all times. This was a little embarrassing because he would allow no chance that my powers would return. I guess that he was afraid that if they did I would kill him, an accurate thought. Mai had offered several times to secretly starve herself to let me get my powers back, but I had outright refused. Ever since then I had personally made sure that she ate all of her food. Finally Mutran was done with me for the day and we were led back to our cell. I was tossed in by one of the guards and lay on the ground where I had fallen. I lacked the strength to do anything else. Mai was pushed in and the door was closed behind her. She ran over to me and cried.

"This is all my fault… if you would only let me die."

"NO!" I yelled with all of my strength. "Mai, I told you, you are far more important to me then my powers or freedom will ever be." I tried to push myself up into a sitting position but found that I couldn't. I would have hit the hard stone floor if Mai had not caught me and placed my head in her lap. She slowly ran her fingers though my hair as she cried.

"Oh, Umbra… when will this nightmare end?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully. "I only know that it will end, eventually. One way or another." Mai nodded and dried her tears.

"If only we could live through this, we could settle down and have a normal life… but that is never going to happen."

"No," I insisted, "It will happen, why don't you tell me what it will be like?" I needed to get her mind off of this cell, and why we were in it.

"Well, we'll live in the fire nation, or in the earth kingdom, I don't much care. And we'll have a big house, next to the beach. And every night we will watch the sun set over the water. I'll even teach you how to swim so that we can go swimming and boating."

"It sounds wonderful." I smiled. "What will the house be like?"

"It will have a huge porch out front where we can sit outside. And while it will be big it won't be too big, just large enough for us… and a few others." She blushed.

"What others?" I asked in confusion.

"Why, our children, of course." She said as she smiled. I mentally gave a sigh of relief… I had distracted her enough that she was smiling. "We'll have two of them, a boy and a little girl. Or maybe we'll have more; I don't care, just as long as we can get out of this horrible place." I smiled and placed my hand on her cheek.

"With so much to look forward to how can we not escape?" She smiled and kissed me.

"Wow, you really are deluded, aren't you?" I turned and saw a small rat smirking at me.

"What?" I started before it interrupted me.

"Don't stretch your brain any farther than it will go… yes, I can talk… no, I am not usually a rat."

"Then what are you?" Mai asked quietly.

"Suffice to say, I'm a powerful being who counts shape shifting among his many powers." The rat smiled. "And I can help you get out of here." Mai and I looked at each other suspiciously.

"Why should we trust you? For all we know you could be Mutran trying to trick us!" I said.

"Ah, good, you are not complete fools. Fine, if you want to see my true form then watch." With that the rat grew until he was about eight feet tall and had spikes on his hunched back. His body was a aquamarine blue but his arms were golden. I gasped, it was a Rahkshi.

"But how?" I asked in disbelief. "Rahkshi need energized protodermis to be created! And there isn't any in this world!" the Rahkshi laughed. It sounded like two cinder blocks being rubbed together.

"Usually, yes, but Mutran discovered another way. He found some old bones down in the catacombs that when melted down have a very similar effect as energized protodermis on Kraata. In fact, he can now make a Rahkshi from only one Kraata instead of needing two of them." Mai had turned white when she saw the Rahkshi but now she gasped in shock.

"You said that he found bones in the catacombs! But the only bones down there are the Dragon bones!"

"Then that's what he's using." The Rahkshi shrugged.

"But… is nothing sacred to that monster?" Mai asked in horror. "The Dragons were honored beasts, even when they were hunted. To use them is such a way…"

"Is something that a Makuta would do without hesitation." I snarled "They have no morality."

"No, they don't." the Rahkshi smiled. "There are over a thousand of my brothers hidden under the palace just waiting for the command to break loose." I was shocked. With an army of that size he could easily take the entire world by storm.

"Wait… all Rahkshi have to follow their master's will… how come you're not?" I asked him.

"I'm a rebellious child." He smiled evilly. "But what do you care… don't you want to know how to get out of here?"

"Yes, please." Mai nodded.

"The here is the plan, the next time the guard comes to get you let him take me instead… I'll distract them by running and the two of you can escape."

"Why are you helping us?" I asked. "What will you gain from this?" the Rahkshi smiled.

"Oh yes, I was getting to that. I'll help you if you take a message to Matoro… tell him that Shadow still lives. But also tell him that I'm taking a break from killing him to destroy Mutran."

"But how will you get the guards to take you?" asked Mai. Without a word he turned into me.

"See," the Rahkshi smirked. "There's no way to tell. And with the low lighting you two can hide in the back until they have me outside." I nodded. Mai usually tried to hide in the back to make them forget her in an attempt to let me have my powers back.

"He won't need us for a while now," I said. "He told me that I would have to have a little break for a few days so that he wouldn't get too wrapped up in studying me to finish his other plans." The Rahkshi smiled and nodded.

"Good, then when he sends for you we will get you out of here and I can kill him." I shook my head. I didn't trust this Rahkshi any more than I did Mutran, but we needed to escape, and desperate times require desperate measures.

…

Toph and Solek were lead through the crowds to the palace. Solek thought that the king would most likely be a huge guy with bulging muscles. What he saw was a wizened old man who was dressed in a ridiculous purple robe.

"Greeting travelers." He said. His voice made him sound like he was on the fence between genius and insanity. "I presume that the young lady is Toph Bei Fong, but I have no idea who the young man with the metal on his face is." Solek's hand came up and felt his metal cheek and eye. "No need to be embarrassed, I've seen weirder in my hundred and twelve years." Solek's jaw dropped.

"One hundred and twelve… I thought that most people in this world only lived to be eighty or so."

"Normally you're right, I'm the exception." The old king laughed, or rather, snorted.

"If you're one hundred and twelve then you must have known the avatar all that time ago." The old King nodded.

"Yes, I did. I heard from my guards when they came back to the city that the avatar had died. I must admit it came as quite a shock. I always expected that I would go first." The king suddenly looked older, and a tear slowly fell down one eye. "But enough morning, it won't bring him back." He said, shaking himself as if to get rid of the painful memories. "I called you here for a reason; I need your help with something."

"What do you need help with?" Toph asked skeptically. "According to what Aang told me you're one of the best earthbenders in the entire world."

"One of? I am the best!" the king insisted.

"Yeah right, I'm the best." Toph smiled.

"Now listen here, sweetie… you might be good but there's no way that you're better than me!" Toph laughed at the king.

"Then why don't we find out?" she asked with a grin.

"Ok little girl, you're on!" the king said. "To the dueling chamber!" Solek shook his head as the two earthbenders bickered and put each other down all the way through the palace. At the very least this was going to be very interesting.

…

Azula

Something was up. Mutran had been training his men like he had promised and they were quickly mastering the new weapons. But I still had a feeling in the back of my head that he was cooking something up. I wondered again what he would get out of helping me, practically nothing. He must have some hidden agenda. Luckily I was prepared for something like this… I would wait until the comet arrived and then I would personally burn the fool out of existence. I sighed happily as I reclined in my throne. Just who did this Mutran think he was? No one could get the best of me, no one. Not my brother, not the Avatar, not even my own father had guessed what my plans were. Very soon the world would belong to the fire nation. And I would rule unquestioned.

…

Lhikan watched the stars come out as it grew dark. Soon he would have to fight the one person he had ever loved, again. He often wondered whether he was insane or not. After all, with all that had happened to him how could he be entirely sane. He had watched as a small army of his comrades had been wiped out, leaving him the only survivor. He had fought not one, but two of his closest friends when they had turned. And now he was in the body of a six-year-old organic. Ty Lee was sneaking up on him, and she thought he didn't know.

"If you want to surprise me then you should think of another way of doing it." He sighed. Ty Lee winced, how had he known that she was there? She walked over and sat down next to him. "You were right." He said.

"I was right about what?" Ty Lee asked in confusion.

"I don't have a spirit star… I am no longer a toa. I may still weald the powers but for some reason I am not one. Perhaps it is just because this world doesn't have toa. Or maybe I am no longer fit to be a toa, or a hero."

"Don't be silly." Ty Lee insisted. "A title doesn't make you a hero, what you do is what makes you a hero." Lhikan smiled sadly.

"Perhaps I was placed in this body to symbolize a new start for me. None of my earlier accomplishments matter in this world. I am merely a six year old with the power to incinerate a small town without breaking a sweat. That's a little scary isn't it?"

"I think it would be if you were like Tuyet… but you're not." Lhikan looked at her in surprise. "You haven't even used your powers since you came here except to fight her. I think you can be a great hero." Lhikan smiled at her.

"Thank you Ty Lee, you might be annoying, but thank you. I needed to hear that." Ty Lee beamed at him.

"Does that mean that I can hug you?" Lhikan sighed.

"No."

* * *

Author's note: The final battle is coming soon, or is it? I predict that you will be shocked and amazed by what is going to happen. And yay for Bumi screen time! Please Review and let me know how I'm doing and thanks a bunch to all those who already have.


	25. The Best Laid Plans

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 24

The best laid plans…

Matoro

I sat and watched the small river that rushed along Piandao's estate. It had a calming effect on my troubled mind. I sighed, it wasn't all that important what kind of sword that I picked but I still couldn't choose. No one style jumped out at me as anything special and nearly all of them made me feel as if I was sacrificing defense for offence. I felt someone sit down next to me and I didn't even have to look to know that it was Katara.

"What's wrong?" she asked, putting an arm around my waist and giving me a little squeeze.

"Sokka has already picked a sword and has begun forging it." I sighed. "I still have no clue as to what I should choose. The very shape of the sword changes the style that I'll fight in, and I can't pick." Katara smiled.

"Just think about what's important to you. When you are sparring Sokka what do you do the most?"

"Well, I usually try to defend a lot and wait for the right moment to attack, but the swords we've been using are all too long and heavy for a fast defense." Katara seemed to think for a second before answering.

"Well, then you need a shorter sword, not quite a dagger but still short so that it can be fast. Why don't you ask Piandao if there are any swords like that?" I stood up and kissed her.

"Katara, you are a genius. What would I do without you?" with that I began walking back to the house. I hoped that there was some sort of blade that fit the idea I was getting. If there was then I might be able to actually have a chance against Sokka in a sparring match.

…

To say that the fight between Toph and Bumi was interesting would have been grossly insulting. It was, without a doubt, one of the most amazing fights that Solek had ever seen. It started with Toph and Bumi on opposite sides of an arena. Bumi had taken off his robes and revealed that underneath them he was heavily muscled and actually just under six feet tall.

"Wow!" Solek remarked to a guard. "Where did all that come from?" The guard shrugged.

"He's the fittest hundred and twelve year old in the world… you get used to it." Solek shook his head; he wasn't sure how you COULD get used to something like that. Toph merely raised an eyebrow at him.

"So, are we going to spar, or are we just going to have a flexing contest?" with that she slammed her foot into the ground and sent a wave of rocks flying at the king of Omashu. Bumi easily deflected them and retaliated by striking the ground and sending a small earthquake at Toph. Toph was out of the way long before it reached her and started kicking chunks of rocks at Bumi. Solek watched in awe as the battle went on for the better part of an hour, with no clear winner. It became quickly obvious that Toph had skill and power on her side but Bumi had been practicing for over a hundred years. With that much experience there wasn't much he hadn't seen or done as far as earthbending was concerned. The two fought without either one gaining much ground against the other. However, as the fight went on the tide quickly turned in Toph's favor. Since she could sense where Bumi was at all times as well as all of his attacks it was easy to win as soon as she had learned what his moves were. In about a minute Bumi was trapped against the wall by a giant slab of earth.

"Well, I have to say that was surprising" Bumi admitted as he freed himself.

"Yeah, you might want to stop saying that you're the best earthbender." Toph grinned.

"But that just makes you all the better for my quest." The King said as he put his robes back on.

"What quest is that?" Solek asked.

"I've been getting reports from the outlying villages that the badger-moles are leaving their caves in massive numbers." The old king said. Toph gasped in horror while Solek looked to her for explanation.

"What is a badger-mole?" he asked.

"They were the original earthbenders," Toph explained. "I was taught how to earthbend by badger-moles."

"Really? Well no wonder you beat me." Bumi said. "As you can imagine they are causing a lot of destruction and panic. I need you to find out why they would leave their tunnels." Toph nodded.

"Right, so, where should we start?" Bumi smiled.

"At a place known as the Cave of Two Lovers."

…

Zuko

After getting a good night's sleep I stretched myself out and yawned, and then I had the air driven out of me as Lhikan jumped on my chest.

"Come on!" the diminutive fire toa said. "The sun has been up for at least four hours! We need to get going! There's no telling how far Tuyet will get and we need to catch up!" I threw him out of the tent and gasped for air. I quickly got dressed and walked out to see him preparing to go into the girl's tent. I grabbed him by his armor and walked over to the fire.

"Oh, no you don't… waking up a guy is one thing but you are not supposed to go into a girl's tent."

"Why? They need to get up!" I sighed.

"Look, I don't know what rules you had in your old world but in this world guys are not allowed in the same tent or room as a girl, especially when she is asleep." Lhikan gave me a weird look.

"Why?" he asked.

"I'll explain it when you are older." I sighed.

"Technically I'm older than anyone in this world by about six thousand years." He frowned.

"Ok, fine… you want to know? Don't blame me for this." I leaned down and whispered in his ear. His cheeks get redder and redder as I explained the facts of life to him.

"You mean that…"

"Yup."

"And you actually…"

"Yeah."

"Gross! You organics are so disgusting!" He yelled. "But… thanks for stopping me… that could have been bad." I nodded. Hearing the commotion Ty Lee poked her head out and smiled at us.

"Morning guys! What's up?" Lhikan blushed a bright red and ran behind a tree. Ty Lee looked at me.

"Ok, what did you tell him?"

"Just something he thought he was old enough to know." I shrugged. Jin came out of the tent and yawned.

"So… what are we going to do today?" she asked.

"I guess we need to find a boat and follow Tuyet." I said. "If my memory is correct there should be a village nearby where we can buy or rent one."

"Good," Lhikan said, poking his head out from behind the tree. "We need to move as fast as possible."

"Why are you behind a tree?" asked Jin.

"Because I want to keep as much distance between me and all females at all times." Lhikan answered. Jin and Ty Lee glared at me.

"What?" I asked. "He wanted to know!"

…

Matoro

I had told Piandao what I had thought up.

"So I was wondering if there were any swords like that... you know, with a defensive focus?" The sword master thought for a minute before smiling.

"Well, it's an unusual blade, but there is one."

"Really?" I asked excitedly.

"Yes, it's called a kodachi." He answered. "It's a short blade, about 59 cm long." I thought about that distance, it really was short. At that size it would be pretty fast as well.

"It sounds perfect!" I said excitedly. Piandao smiled and stood up.

"Come with me, we should be able to begin the forging right away.

…

Solek

We had left Omashu over an hour ago. Thanks to King Bumi we now had a comfortable saddle to sit on while we rode Tank. Toph had been quiet the entire time; it was beginning to get a little disconcerting.

"Um… Toph, are you ok?" I asked carefully, I had no desire to be launched off of Tank's back.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about this mission." She confessed. "I know the badger-moles; they're huge, even bigger than Tank. Whatever is making them run must be pretty mean." I thought about it, with as big as these things were supposed to be I could see where she was coming from.

"Yeah… at least we have Tank." I said, patting his head. "I doubt that there's anything that he can't handle." The massive Kikanalo shook his head and roared confidently. I looked up and saw that we were approaching the caves.

"The Cave of Two Lovers," Toph said. "Katara told me about this place, if you leave the lights off there are rocks that will light the way through."

"Interesting, on the down side we're going to have to walk." I said. "Even though Tank can fit I doubt that we'll want to be on his back when and if we run into whatever is causing the disturbance." Toph nodded and jumped off. We entered the cave cautiously.

"Katara told me that the legend was that only by trusting in love could you get through the cave." Toph said. I shrugged.

"Love, glowing rocks, giant Rahi that can create earthquakes, all things that make no sense and yet exist anyway. I wonder if there's a pattern here?" Toph punched me in the shoulder.

"What do you mean, love doesn't make sense? You love me don't you?" I nodded.

"Of course I do, but that doesn't mean that I understand it. Think about it Toph, I'm a 7,000 year old biomechanical being from another world who became an organic when he came to this world and then my arm and part of my face changed back to metal… you are a nobleman's daughter who is blind and still the best earthbender in the entire world, and you're not even fifteen yet. Just by looking at the facts there is no reason that we should have any attraction to each other." Toph smiled and stopped walking.

"Maybe it doesn't make sense… but I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Me either." I smiled. She reached down and held my hand. We most likely would have stayed there for a while had not the cave suddenly reverberated with a massive roar. I turned to Tank.

"Was that you?" The Kikanalo shook his head. Suddenly the roar came again.

"I have a really bad feeling about this." Toph said. I took a deep breath and started to inch forward. I noticed that I was sweating, and it wasn't from fear. The tunnel was getting hotter by the minute. Up ahead I could see the flicker of fire around the next corner.

"Great… why'd it have to be fire?" I asked under my breath. I turned to Toph. "I'll go first; my sonic shield should be able to stop whatever attack is thrown at us." Toph nodded. I turned and prepared myself. "Oh well, here goes nothing." With that I jumped around the corner and set up a sonic shield. Toph and Tank followed bellowing as loud as they could. We froze when we saw what was waiting for us… nothing.

"Wait… huh?" Toph said in confusion. "There's nothing here."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Nothing but this strange rock." Toph gasped and touched one of them.

"That isn't a rock… it's a dragon egg!"

"Wait… don't dragons protect their eggs?" I asked.

"Yeah," Toph started, "actually I'm kind of surprised that we were able to… uh oh." The three of us turned around to see the biggest, scariest looking dragon that I personally had ever seen. It must have been twice the size of Tank and covered in armor that made his metal skin look like wood plating. It roared at us and bared its massive jaws which were filled with razor sharp teeth.

"Oh slag."

…

Lhikan sat at the front of the boat. They had been sailing all day and Ember Island was just coming into view.

"Great," Complained Zuko. "She's gone to one of the most populated islands in the fire nation."

"Yeah, this should be interesting." Ty Lee agreed.

"Nothing else matters, I need to get the Nui Stone away from her." Lhikan said. "As long as she holds it she holds the power to flood the entire world. And honestly fire doesn't do so well against water."

"Then why are you fighting her?" Jin asked. Lhikan sighed at looked at his feet.

"Because if I don't who will?"

"Matoro, Solek, Umbra, Sokka, me…" Zuko smiled. "The list only gets bigger. You really didn't have to come back. And you knew it… so why did you?"

"I don't need to explain myself to a selfish organic who has had an easy life!" Lhikan snarled. Zuko stared at him.

"Easy life? My own father was going to kill me; he probably killed my mother instead. He later burned me and banished me from my homeland. I spent years of my life trying to find and capture the only hope that the world had… how can you say that I had an easy life?"

"Have you watched as friends, good friends, died as you were ordered to run away? Have you watched everyone around you who was able to fight the coming evil either die or succumb to it? Have you fought your entire life wondering if you can actually make a difference, or if you're just spinning your wheels?" Lhikan said quietly. He turned to Zuko. "You have had a hard life but even you have known love, I never have."

"You still love her don't you?" Ty Lee asked Lhikan. He sadly faced the island and nodded.

"Yes, I always have… and despite that I have to stop her." The boat hit the shore and Lhikan jumped off.

"Lhikan, wait… you don't have to do this alone." Ty Lee called after him. Lhikan turned around and gave them a sad look.

"Yes, I do. I would suggest getting as far from this island as possible. Even if I win there won't be much left." With that he ran off towards a growing cloud. Ty Lee looked at Zuko.

"We are not leaving him, are we?" Zuko shrugged.

"I don't know if there is much that we can do. Tuyet is obviously out of our league." Ty Lee stomped her foot.

"I can't believe you!" she yelled. "You would let a little boy like him go off and fight a monster like her? Well, guess what, he's not going to be alone! I'm going to help him!" With that she took off after Lhikan. Zuko sighed.

"Come on, we can't let them get themselves killed." Jin nodded and the two of them ran after Ty Lee.

…

The dragon lunged at the foolish beings who had invaded its nest. Solek threw up a sonic shield and stopped it from taking a bite out of Tank. The Kikanalo didn't really know what the giant scaly thing was but one thing was apparent, it wanted to eat him. When being attacked by something that wants to eat them Kikanalo do one of two things. They roar at the predator until it runs away. Or, as is rarely the case, when the predator is larger than them they trample it down or crush it with their massive strength. Tank proceeded to use option number two and threw himself at the dragon, his heavy metal body slamming it against the wall and his claws trying to rip its armor. But even Tank's sharp metal claws could only scratch the massive dragon as it tried to get its head in a position to incinerate the annoying metal creature. Toph made sure that wouldn't happen by earthbending walls to try to hold the beast's head still. But it wasn't working. The dragon would break loose from whatever she threw at it. Tank was losing his grip on the mighty beast and was thrown across the chamber. Solek was trying to hold the beast back but he wasn't using his full power. Toph gritted her teeth as yet another wall was shattered by the beast.

"Solek, let's see some of that Bohrok-Kal power!" She yelled at him.

"No, I might kill it." If Toph could see she most likely would have rolled her eyes.

"I thought that was the idea!" Tank bellowed in agreement as he charged the dragon again, this time managing to hit it with his horn and creating a small gash in its body.

"But why…" whispered Solek. "Why are you here? This isn't your home." Suddenly Solek got an idea. With a massive release of power he pulled both Toph and Tank away from the dragon and trapped them behind a sonic wall.

"Solek? What are you doing?" Toph yelled.

"I just want to try something." Solek quietly said. The dragon was suspicions, why had the little human stopped its friends from attacking it? It slowly lowered its head and growled at Solek. It started to open its mouth. Solek could see the fire building up in its throat. "I sure hope that this works." He grimaced. Then he took a step towards the dragon and grabbed one of the long tendrils extending from its nose like a mustache.

…

Azula snuck down the stairs to Mutran's lab. Things had been way to quiet lately. With the comet only a day away she wanted to make sure that all the loose ends were tied up. She was surprised to find no one in the lab. She motioned and several Dai-Lee agents came forward and set up a perimeter. She smiled, Mutran had thought that his little secret room had gone unnoticed, but he was wrong. Azula had spotted the door, and wondered what could possibly be inside it. She took another step forward and pressed on the secret stone that Mutran used to open the door. It creaked open and she peered inside. What she saw made her blood run cold. The room was filled with an army, and not a human one. This army was made of metal. The creatures were all different colors but their bodies were all the same. They all had a reptilian look about them with hunched backs sporting spikes of all descriptions. But that wasn't even the scary thing. The scary thing was a giant tank in the back. Inside the tank was something that might have once been human, but now was definitely not. Its body was at least four times larger than a human and was glowing red with heat. It had horns growing out of its head and even large wings that wrapped around its body. But the thing that scared Azula the most was that the face was one she knew, it was her father.

"Father… what did he do to you?" Azula asked breathlessly. She did not mind the fact that her father had been mutated, she rather minded that he was still alive.

"I did nothing much, fire lady; I just completed what I have been trying to do all along. I created a perfect meld between a Makuta and a human" Azula turned to see Mutran, his bald head glowing in the torchlight and his face split with a massive smile.

"Mutran… why do you have a secret army down here?" Azula asked.

"Oh, just in case I ever needed to, you know, take over the world." He laughed.

"We had a deal!" Azula yelled at him.

"No, you thought we did. One thing you need to know about Makuta, my dear, is that they have a tendency to lie. And we never serve someone who is less powerful then ourselves." Azula scoffed.

"How can you be more powerful than me?" she asked. Mutran smiled.

"Why don't I show you?" he asked. His body began to grow until it was ten feet tall. All organic tissue disappeared and was replaced with metal. Mutran's smile got bigger as fangs appeared on his face. Azula gasped as a fully realized Makuta stood before her. For the first time in her life she wondered if she hadn't gotten in over her head.

…

As the fights started that would decide the course of the world Sozin's Comet got closer and closer. The final battle was coming, but who would live, and who would die in the fight had not yet been decided. Aang watched in fear as the world seemed to slowly crumble around his friends. Nothing could have prepared them for this… nothing.

* * *

Author's note: Ok, the battle that many of you have been waiting for is coming. Will Azula triumph against Mutran... or will the fire nation's princess fall to a being so powerful that it has no physical form. The end is coming... and it's going to be big. Please review and let me know how I'm doing, you don't have much more time. :)


	26. Darkness Falls

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Author's note: Some of the more attentive fans might notice some of this chapter looks a little familiar. That is because I referenced an actual event in the Bionicle universe as told in Greg Farshtey's "The Many Deaths of Toa Tuyet". I changed things a little (because the actual book didn't really pair Lhikan and Tuyet that much) but all credit for that passage goes to Greg Farshtey. I'm just acknowledging his genus. Enjoy and review.

* * *

Chapter 25

Darkness Falls

Matoro glanced at the sky, it was growing clouded. He turned to his friends and looked them over. Sokka was practicing with his sword in a sparring match against Suki. Katara was packing up what little was left, and Momo was trying to help. Piandao and Iroh were drinking tea and talking together. They had been doing this all morning. Matoro glanced at the sky again. Katara came over and took his arm.

"It's almost here, isn't it?" she asked. Matoro nodded.

"Yes, it's time to end this." He turned to his small group of friends. "We have a day until the comet get's here. It will take us almost that long to get to the fire nation capital. I know that I don't need to tell you that this is dangerous, but we can't wait any longer. If Solek, Toph, Umbra, Mai and the others don't show up then it will probably just be us."

"Not exactly," Iroh smiled. "We've been calling in favors and assembling friends all week. You might want to see this." Matoro walked over to them and looked out the window. He gasped in surprise. There was a massive fleet just off shore from the island. Boats from all three nations were filled with warriors from all corners of the globe. Flags flew every banner he knew, and one other. Matoro turned to Iroh.

"What is the white flag with the flower on it from?" Iroh smiled.

"The Order of the White Lotus, a secret organization that has existed for centuries. Piandao and I are members of it." Matoro shook his head in amazement.

"And there are even fire nation flags… how did you pull that one off?" he asked.

"There are many in the fire nation who are tired with the war." Piandao answered. "There is also one other thing." Matoro looked again and saw a great platoon of sky bison were gathering around the estate.

"But, I thought that the air nomads had been killed off!" Katara gasped.

"Not quite." Everyone turned to see a small man dressed in black enter the room. "In fact only the air monks were killed, there was another sect. I am Master Toku, leader of the air ninjas. We have lived in secret for a century waiting for the right time to strike. That time is now, we wish to finish the war and once again bring peace to the world." Matoro was shocked.

"All four nations, all four elements, so many have come." He said. Iroh smiled at him.

"They came because they heard that a great hero was going to take down the fire lord at last." Matoro shook his head.

"I am not a great hero, I just happened to be chosen to save my world. I was nothing before that… just a hunter." Matoro said quietly.

"But you would not have been chosen to be a great hero unless you were a great hero." Iroh said. "We are never given more than we can handle. And nothing happens by accident. Matoro, this army has gathered to follow one man, you, into victory. This force will literally give anything to end this war and bring peace to the world." Matoro looked out the window. He then turned as several generals entered the room, Hakoda and Pakku among them. They all bowed to him.

"We have come to end the war." Hakoda smiled.

"And beat up the fire lord while we're at it." A strange old man wearing a purple robe laughed.

"We all believe in you, Matoro." Pakku smiled. "And yes, I think that Bumi put it quite nicely. Let's beat up the fire lord." Matoro looked at the men before him in shock. These were the heroes of this world, on par with Lhikan and Axonn in his own. And they were placing their faith in him to save them. He felt Katara come up and wrap her arm around him.

"This is it." He whispered. He turned and looked into Katara's eyes. With only a seconds hesitation he kissed her, in front of Mata Nui knew how many people, her father, brother and grandfather. He then turned and addressed the generals. "I don't know if I'm worthy of this command, but I thank you. Today we sail for the fire nation capital, tomorrow the comet will come, but it is no longer a sign of doom. Sozin's Comet will instead be a sign of unity between the four nations, and the four elements." Matoro drew his two Kodachi and looked at them. "By these blades, and the breath within me, I WILL defeat the fire lord and bring peace to the world!" everyone in the room cheered. Katara found it hard to stop herself from crying, the time had come to set the world strait… but would they all be around to enjoy it afterward?

…

Lhikan walked to the top of the hill. He could see Tuyet preparing for their fight.

"Lhikan… you came, not that I'm surprised, but still." She smiled with deceptive sweetness. "I don't suppose that I could convince you to join me? Think about it Lhikan, I could help save the world from the Makuta… with the Nui Stone I could defeat all of your enemies and, with your help, could bring peace to the world."

"No thanks, Matoro will do that without the Nui Stone." Lhikan said. Tuyet laughed.

"Do you really think it's going to be that easy?" she asked. "Do you know which Makuta came into this world? Mutran, the scientist, he's brought weapons and technology from our world that will change things considerably. You need me Lhikan… join me…. You know you want to." Tuyet said with a seductive smile.

"As much as I would like that I cannot allow you to run free with the Nui Stone. Put it down and then we'll talk." Lhikan slowly placed his swords on the ground and connected them. Tuyet shook her head.

"Oh Lhikan, we could have had such a happy life together. Too bad you had to ruin it!" With that she sent a blast of water at Lhikan. Ty Lee came over the hill just in time to see it. She gasped in horror as it looked like Lhikan had died.

"Nice shot… but you missed." Ty Lee looked up to see Lhikan standing on his swords. They had combined to make his board and he had flown up at the last second. Tuyet snarled and sent another killing blast at him. Lhikan flew out of the way and created two fire swords. Tuyet drew a wicked looking broadsword and swung it with the skill of a master. The two toa clashed and the sky seemed to explode. Tuyet had more elemental power but Lhikan, partially because of his small size, was faster. The flame swords clashed with the broadsword and steam began to fill the area. Whenever it looked like Tuyet would get close to hitting him a shield surrounded Lhikan and blocked her attack. But whenever Lhikan was about to hit her she suddenly turned intangible and the blades went right through her. Zuko and Jin had caught up with Ty Lee and watched in open mouth awe at the fright. Zuko had seen skilled firebenders before, but not even his sister was anywhere as skilled as Lhikan. It almost seemed as if the fire was fighting with him. He didn't move in a set of ancient fighting style that controlled the fire, he just thought what he wanted the fire to do and it did it. Perhaps it was because of his age in this world but that meant that dragons, spears, and creatures that Zuko had never seen before raced towards Tuyet. But no matter how powerful his flame was there was always a more powerful wave of water that engulfed it. Tuyet was laughing insanely as she slowly pushed Lhikan back.

"Don't you see Lhikan, as long as I hold the Nui Stone you have no hope, this world will be mine!" she screeched. Then she pushed Lhikan away from her with a massive blast of water and raised her hand in the air. The ocean seemed to explode as a massive tidal wave rose above the tallest building on the island. Jin grabbed Zuko's arm in fear. This tidal wave was already big enough to destroy the island, and it was getting bigger. Tuyet's laugh grew louder as she could hear the screams of scared humans. "See!" she yelled. "This is true power! This is the Nui Stone!" with that she struck Lhikan with such power that the impact on his shield knocked him out. "And now, there is no one to stop me." She smiled.

…

Azula gestured to the Dai-Lee. They took defensive positions around their queen. Mutran laughed.

"Shadowbenders, deal with the Dai-Lee." Suddenly Aoshi and his men dropped from the ceiling and attacked the earthbenders. The Dai-Lee were good, but they weren't ninjas. In a mere minute they had all been killed. The shadowbenders disappeared, leaving only Azula and Mutran. The Makuta smiled. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this!" he laughed. Then he sent a shadow hand out of his chest and tried to grab Azula, but she was too fast. The fire nation prodigy dodged and sent sparks of lightning at the Makuta. Mutran snarled in pain as it struck. He created a shadow blade and slashed at Azula. Azula flipped, rolled and dodged out of the way as the entire lab was nearly sliced to pieces by Mutran's blade.

"You never should have betrayed me Mutran!" Azula screamed as she sent a massive fire blast at him. Mutran created a vacuum that sucked all of the fire out of existence.

"No, you never should have made a deal with me!" He laughed as he summoned a cyclone and sent it at Azula. "Do you even have any idea of the extent of my powers? I am a Makuta!" he roared as he changed his shape into a massive Tahtorak. "I AM POWER!" Azula ran from the room as the roof began to fall. She quickly ran up the stairs to the roof. Mutran changed into a Rahi bird and flew after her. As Azula ran spiders and beetles came swarming out of the walls to attack her. The very plants suddenly reached for her feet as if to trip her. She started sweating, how could she possibly win this battle? She had been so wrong; Mutran was not a weak scientist who was afraid of battle. He was smarter and more cunning than her. She ran to the roof of the palace and stopped to catch her breath. She turned when there was a crash behind her as Mutran smashed the roof. Several guards with more loyalty than brains attacked him in an effort to save the fire lady. In seconds they were down, sliced to pieces by his shadow blade or absorbed into him with his shadow hand. Mutran laughed evilly as he redirected the lightning that Azula sent at him.

"Stop, I'll give you anything you want!" Azula pleaded. "Just don't kill me!" Mutran laughed.

"Where is the brave fire lady now?" he sneered as he reached for her neck.

"Right here!" Azula screamed as she blasted him with fire. Mutran screamed as his armor superheated. Azula continued roasting him as she stood up. The sky turned red as Mutran got back up and tried to turn the tables with heat vision. The fight went back and forth as the two combatants used every last ounce of their power. Mutran had greater power but even he had to admit that he was not much of a fighter, fighting had always been the job of lesser Makuta. But even with a slight disadvantage in skill he was still a Makuta. Azula had trained her entire life and was considered the best firebender around, with the possible exception of her father. She sent blast after blast of fire at Mutran. Mutran tried all of his powers and abilities, all the way from chain lightning to weather control, but Azula dodged them all. He even made himself invisible but she had just gone crazy, sending fire and lightning everywhere.

Suddenly he disappeared in a blast of smoke. Azula walked over and smiled at the burn mark on the roof. "Where's the powerful Makuta now?" she asked with a smile.

"Right behind you." Azula turned just in time for Mutran to grab her by the neck. "Oh, yeah, I can teleport, did I mention that?"

"No, you didn't." Azula gasped while trying to pry the massive metal fingers that were threatening to choke her away from her neck.

"Pity, you might have wanted to know that." Mutran laughed as he threw her across the roof. "And now, what to do with you?" he grinned as he placed a foot over her prone body. "Oh, she fell asleep, how tragic. I guess I'll keep her around long enough for her to see the end of her world, I bet she'd like that." With that he laughed and picked her up. Soon this world would be his, and as soon as he figured out how to go back into the world of Bionicle it would be his as well.

…

Solek felt a jolt to his mind. Suddenly he could hear the dragon's thoughts.

"What does that little human think he's doing?"

"Hey, easy on the little… I'm still growing." He thought. The dragon snorted in surprise and closed its mouth.

"Wait… how are you able to communicate with me?" It asked.

"I used to be able to link minds with whoever I touched." Solek explained. "I guess that I still have that ability." The dragon looked confused. "Oh, I guess you wouldn't know about that… so, why are you attacking us?" he asked.

"You're trespassing on my nest!" It snarled. "I must protect my egg."

"But why have a nest here?" Solek asked. "Don't dragons usually life in the fire nation?"

"Usually, yes." The dragon admitted. "But there was something odd going on at the palace and I decided to get out of there before the dragon hunt began again."

"Dragon hunt?" Solek asked. The dragon nodded sadly.

"Yes, I am one of the last dragons. It is imperative that this egg hatches so that our kind can continue. I was afraid to lay it in the fire nation for that reason." Solek nodded, it made sense.

"But this is the home of the badger-moles, you can't just drive them out, it's causing problems for us humans." The dragon looked at Solek sadly.

"But where else can I go?" it asked. Solek thought about it for a minute.

"I have some friends who are about to help take down the fire lord and bring peace to the world. If you would help them than I'm sure that the new fire lord would be grateful and protect you." The dragon looked at him suspiciously.

"How do I know that you're not fooling me?" It asked. "In my experience humans can be treacherous."

"Look into my memories." Solek said. "See for yourself." The dragon hesitantly reached inside of his head and looked. It winced as it saw things that no dragon has ever seen before. It saw Solek's life, all of it, the thousands of years that he had lived, the peril he had been in. When it had finally seen it all it looked at Solek with a new respect.

"You have lived a long time, little one. I can see that you are telling the truth. I will help." Solek grinned and let down the sonic shield that was holding back Toph and Tank.

"It's ok guys… she's not going to hurt us anymore." He smiled as he stroked the dragon's nose. "And we just got a new recruit."

…

Lhikan

I looked around; this was not the universe I had just been in. I was in the coliseum, suddenly I recognized where I was. This was one of my memories, one that I tried to erase from my mind. I was a young toa of fire. I was walking with toa Hagah Norik. He was speaking to me.

"Don't feel bad about what happened at the outpost Lhikan, you were given the order to run and you did. You followed orders like a good warrior should."

"But I wish I could have stayed and helped." I heard myself say. "Then some of them might have lived." Norik put his hand on my drooping shoulder.

"Sometimes, we need to forget what might have happened, and focus on what we must do." He had smiled. "But I did not bring you here to tell you that. I brought you to meet your new team members…" he opened the door and I saw two toa, a toa of air… and a beautiful toa of water. "This is toa Nidhiki," The toa of air barely looked up and nodded. "And toa Tuyet." Tuyet had stepped forward and shaken my hand.

"Hello Lhikan. Welcome to the team." The room faded to be replaced with another memory. I was walking down a long walkway to Tuyet's house. I really did not want to see this memory. Full darkness had descended on Metru Nui as well as on the spirits of its residents. And none walked in a deeper shadow than I did that night.

I found Tuyet in her dwelling. She looked at me hopefully. "Did you find them? Did you stop them?"

I nodded. "Yes. You have … nothing more to worry about. Nidhiki and I captured all three Dark Hunters."

Tuyet smiled. "That's wonderful! Then the countdown is over … I can live again. I don't have to sit in this darkened chamber anymore – we can share adventures again, just like before."

I walked past her. Before she could react, I smashed a hole in the back wall and reached in, my hand emerging with a glowing red stone. "Will we share this too?" I asked. "This is the Nui Stone, isn't it? The one you said you didn't have?"

"How did you -?" she gasped in surprise.

"The stone is full of energy. Energy gives off heat," I said. "Once I knew to look for it, it was easy. Heat is my business."

Tuyet rose. To her credit, she didn't seem nervous or taken aback. She was colder than most Ice Toa I had known; I had to give her that.

"What do you mean, 'knew to look for it'? I don't even know how that got here!" She insisted.

"You didn't know a lot of things, it turns out," I said. "For example, Nidhiki and I caught those three Dark Hunters that were after you – but we caught them this morning. So they couldn't have killed a Ga-Matoran tonight and left that tablet on her. Nidhiki told me Devastator looked confused when he brought up the countdown – so we started wondering if that was because he really had no idea what was going on. He and the others were after you, it's true, but they weren't the ones killing Matoran."

I summoned a ring of fire to surround the Toa of Water. "You were, Tuyet."

"That's ridiculous!" Tuyet snapped, calling down a thunderstorm to douse the flames. "Have you gone mad, accusing me of something like that? What about what we had together Lhikan, don't you trust me anymore?"

"The Dark Hunters were right." I said sadly. "The Nui Stone did end up on your home island and you did take it with you when you came here. They wanted it and you knew they wouldn't stop until someone stopped them. So you started this countdown and then set Nidhiki and me on their trail. When you heard nothing from us, you assumed they were still free, so you had to keep killing Matoran."

The water blast that struck me came out of nowhere and sent me hurtling across the room. The impact made me drop the stone, but it landed inside a water bubble that floated gently back to Tuyet.

"I thought Nidhiki would be a problem, but not you," she said harshly. "You are so trusting, so convinced of the purity of Toa. I even thought that I might be able to turn you, you were so trusting. I don't think Nidhiki even trusts himself. Better keep an eye on him, Lhikan, he'll come to no good."

"You mean like you?" I asked sadly.

Tuyet laughed. "Me? With the energies in this stone, I am going to become the most powerful Toa that ever lived. Think of it – no more Rahi monsters attacking, no more Dark Hunters, and maybe I'll even take out the Brotherhood of Makuta, just for fun. What the League of Six Kingdoms tried to do while they were active, I will do – impose law and order on everything that lives. It will be a perfect world."

"Your law, and your order," I said. "Law built on the corpses of dead Matoran, order built on lies – no good can come from that."

"That's your problem, Lhikan," Tuyet sneered. "Always following the rules. Always worrying about others. Did you ever think we could do more good if we stopped worrying so much about who might get hurt in the process?"

"The day we stop worrying about that, we become part of the problem," I said.

"No, no more problems," Tuyet answered, her gaze shifting to the stone in her hand. "I'm about to become the ultimate solution."

Her hand closed on the stone. It began to crackle, a nimbus of crimson energy surrounding her. I hurled a fire bolt, but she deflected it without even looking at me. Her power was already growing exponentially with each passing moment. In a matter of seconds, she would be able to snuff me out like a tiny flame in a windstorm.

"Don't do this!" I shouted. "Remember what it is we stand for! Remember who you are! Remember us!"

"I don't care about who I am!" Tuyet yelled. "I care about who I will become!"

The next split second was a blur. There was a sound like a mountain splitting in two and then the door was flying across the room, slamming into Tuyet. Nidhiki stood in the open doorway, a tornado whirling around him.

"Hi, dear, I'm home," said the Toa of Air.

I sprang from the floor and closed with Tuyet, trying to pry the stone loose from her grasp. She hurled me aside and then hit Nidhiki with a flood tide that forced him out of the chamber. The next instant, her power exploded, bringing down the entire dwelling.

Before my startled eyes Tuyet began to rise on a column of water. Higher and higher she climbed, until it seemed like she would be able to touch the stars themselves. And she was laughing, a thunderous, horrible sound that shattered my hopes and beliefs like they were fragile things of crystal.

"I always knew she looked down on us, but this is ridiculous," said Nidhiki. "Are you up to putting a chill in her plans?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I focused my energy on drawing all the heat out of the column of water on which Tuyet stood. The effects were immediate – water became ice. Before the Toa of Water could respond, Nidhiki had picked up a pole made of solid metallic Protodermis and swung it, smashing the pillar of ice to pieces.

Stunned and thrown off-balance, Tuyet dropped the stone. Out of contact with it, her new powers abruptly vanished, and the sudden shock of such a loss stunned her. She fell. The stone fell. I dove after Tuyet; even if she had turned I could not let her die. Nidhiki was fine with that choice. He positioned himself under the Nui Stone, ready to snatch it out of the air. I caught Tuyet and then turned around and hit the Nui Stone with a massive fire blast.

"No!" yelled Nidhiki, trying to grab it. But its surface was molten hot and he couldn't touch it for more than second. The stone hit the ground and splintered into a billion pieces, whose red glow flared and then faded for good.

"You -!" raged Nidhiki. "You stupid, moronic - what's the matter with you?"

I had encircled Tuyet with fiery chains. My heart was broken in more pieces than the Nui Stone. I sadly turned to Nidhiki.

"Sorry, Nidhiki, my mistake," I said. "I seem to have made a lot of them lately." Even though I was just seeing my memories it still felt like I was seeing it for the first time. I could feel someone shaking me and knew I was coming back to the land of the living. I looked up and saw Ty Lee trying to wake me up.

"Lhikan, come on Lhikan get up!" she was crying. I sat up and looked over at Tuyet. It was almost a repeat of my memory; she was up on a pillar of water, laughing manically as thunder sounded. I knew what I had to do. Pushing past a surprised Ty Lee I jumped on my board and few forward. I drained all of the heat out of the water and turned the pillar to ice. Then I shattered it. Just like before Tuyet began to fall, but this time it ended differently, because it had to. I created a fire spear and ran her through. The Nui Stone hit the water and sank under the waves as the tidal wave began to die down. Tuyet looked at me and then at the spear in her chest.

"Lhikan… I never thought that… why?" she asked as her eyes grew dark.

"I can't let you kill innocent people, no matter how much I love you." I said quietly. The sky was returning to normal as the power of the Nui Stone left Tuyet. We were floating on my board and I was holding her as best I could. "I am so sorry Tuyet." I said, looking into her eyes. She reached up and kissed me.

"I… I just wanted to save the world Lhikan… so that I could be like you." She said. Then the light went out of her eyes and she died. I tried as hard as I could to hold back the tears… but I couldn't. I cried and held her close. The board slowly landed and I could feel Ty Lee and the others gathering around me. It must have looked strange for a six-year-old to be crying and holding a grown woman after he had just killed her. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Ty Lee. She pulled me into a hug, something she had wanted to do since she had first seen me. I didn't fight back, I just cried on her shoulder.

…

Lhikan watched as Zuko and Jin lowered Tuyet's body into a shallow grave and covered it with earth. Zuko brushed the sweat off of his brow and turned to the small toa.

"What now?" he asked.

"Tuyet said that Mutran had a surprise waiting for the others." Lhikan said. "We need to go and help them."

"What about the Nui Stone." Jin asked.

"It's at the bottom of the ocean by now, one of the safest places it could be." He answered. "And we need to help Matoro." Lhikan put his swords together and stood on them. "Come on, if we squeeze there should be enough room for all of us." Ty Lee looked at him.

"Lhikan, you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened. It was her choices that lead her to this, not yours." She said. Lhikan sighed.

"I know, I need to forget what might have been and focus on what I must do… that's something I never really learned all that well." The small toa looked off into the distance. He knew that he still had a lot to learn, but first he had to save the world.

* * *

Author's note: Ok, give me a second to dry the tears from my eyes, there. As I said I did take a little from the canon storyline but that should help any Avatar fans who are no that familiar with the world of the Bionicle. And what is going to happen to the Nui Stone? It sure isn't going to stay on the bottom of the ocean, that's for sure. Review and please don't beat me over the head to hard for using canon storyline as a memory. ;)


	27. Counting down to Destiny

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

Spoiler warning: This chapter is mostly filler before the final battle. But don't worry, the epic conclusion to the Champion of Ice is coming. Enjoy and please review.

* * *

Chapter 26

Counting down to Destiny

Matoro

I watched as we got ever closer to the fire nation capital. We were approaching the Great Gates of Azulon. As we got closer the fire nets went up and blocked the passage. I took a deep breath and swamped them to put out the fire and then shattered the nets with a frost blast. The looks on the faces of the fire nation guards as we passed were almost comical. At another time I might have laughed, but not now. Now I was leading hundreds of men and woman to a battle that could possibly end in death for us all. Not that the fire lord would have enough men to stop us, I was more concerned with what the Makuta would be able to do. I could see the approaching shore where we would land. As if on cue the comet appeared in the atmosphere. I turned to the generals.

"This is it; with the comet in orbit both our and their firebenders will have an enormous amount of power. We need to be careful."

"Wow, it didn't take you long to gather an army, did it?" I turned and saw Lhikan and the others land on the ship.

"Glad to see that you're ok." I smiled. "Did you take care of Tuyet?" Lhikan nodded sadly. "And the Nui Stone?"

"Gone, it will never worry us again." Lhikan said.

"Good, we are within a few hours of landing." I said. "I'm glad you're here Lhikan, I have no idea what this Makuta has in store for us."

"According to Tuyet it's worse than our worst nightmares." Lhikan said darkly as he walked away. I turned to Zuko.

"He's still a little beat up about having to kill Tuyet." Zuko explained. I nodded sadly, I might not be able to understand what he was going through but I knew that it had to be hard. Ty Lee got up and followed him. I glanced at Zuko, who shrugged.

"Ty Lee seems to have taken an interest in the little guy." I shook my head.

"She never gives up, does she?" Zuko shook his head and smiled.

"So… what's the plan?"

…

Ty Lee

I found Lhikan sitting on the back of the ship, letting his legs dangle over the side. I leaned against the railing and just stood there, watching the comet with him.

"I guess she never really loved me." I turned in surprise when Lhikan said that.

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"I don't know, she seemed completely prepared to kill me. I think that if she had it wouldn't have had a big impact on her life. I, on the other hand, will probably never get over killing her." He kicked his legs aimlessly.

"You might never know if she really loved you or not." I said. "Perhaps she just used you, or maybe she really loved you. All that matters is that you not let it stop you from living a normal life. If she continues to affect you after she died then she's still wining." Lhikan smiled.

"I am still finding it strange that someone so young could have rare moments of wisdom." I fake glared at him.

"Hey, who are you calling young… you're eight years younger than me!"

"My body might be but in reality my mind is several thousand years old." He grinned.

"That should put an interesting twist on any relationship you plan on having in the future." I joked.

"And why is that?" he asked.

"Because of the age difference."

"Of my mind or my body?" he asked. "Because of my mind I am more likely to be attracted to people older than me… but if we go by my body than I will not start being attracted to girls for about six more years."

"Gosh, you're annoying." I sighed.

"Huh? Why am I annoying?"

"I was just joking." I said. "And you went and broke it into rules and regulations. Can't you just take a joke?"

"I guess I'm not in a joking mood." He confessed.

"Well, I hope that passes." I said as I stood up. "I know you're all beat up about Tuyet but you shouldn't be like that forever. You might only be six but you're a good guy Lhikan, don't let Tuyet hold you back." With that I walked back to the front of the ship. I could feel him staring after me and chuckling. I decided to go and see how Katara was doing; I hadn't talked to her in a while. Not since that day that Mai kidnapped us. I found her preparing bandages in the medical room of the ship. She looked up at me and smiled as I walked in.

"Hi Ty Lee, could you give me a hand with these bandages?"

"Sure." I agreed and sat down. "So, how have things been going with Matoro?" I asked while folding a strip of white linen.

"Oh, just wonderful." Katara smiled dreamily. "I can honestly say that I don't think that things could be better. Well, I guess if we weren't about to enter a war zone it would be better." She laughed. I nodded.

"I'm glad you two are happy, really, I am." I said while focusing on my bandage. Katara smiled at me.

"I know that look, what's up Ty Lee?" she asked. I sighed.

"Have you ever liked a guy when there is really no way that you could ever be together?" I asked.

"If you're talking about Matoro…"

"No, someone else." I confessed. "Although I really don't have a chance with Matoro I have even less chances of getting with this guy." Katara looked at me in surprise.

"Why, who is it?" she asked.

"Do I have to answer?" I laughed nervously.

"It might help me understand the problem." Katara said. She put her bandage down and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Come on, who is it?"

"Lhikan." I confessed. Katara looked surprise.

"But… he's…"

"Eight years younger than me, I know." I said gloomily. "But that's only his body, mentally he's almost as old as Matoro, older if you count years spent dead."

"So we can rule out physical attraction." Katara joked. "Why do you like him?"

"I guess I just feel sorry for him, he's been through so much. I just want to hold him close and tell him that it's going to be ok, but I think I'd get burned." Katara smiled.

"Well, typically marring someone under ten is seen as a bad idea…"

"Whoa, I didn't say I wanted to do that! Yet." I objected.

"But he won't be ten forever. Why don't you let him grow up, just be there for him and see where it goes." I thought about it.

"That makes sense... how did you get to be so smart?" I asked. Katara smiled.

"People like my Gran Gran, Iroh and Matoro just rub off on you."

"Matoro more than others huh?" I asked while elbowing her.

"Stop it… I might be engaged to him but that doesn't mean that…"

"Of course it doesn't." I smiled. "All it means is that you're allowed to want to…"

"Ok, stop right there." Katara laughed as she covered my head in a basket. I laughed; it felt good to have friends.

…

Sokka

I sat and looked at the map that Matoro was showing me.

"We plan on holding the sky bison back until the final strike on the palace itself, which will give them time to flank the army and take out any airships that the fire nation has in preparation to surprise us. The rest of the army will follow your original plan for the invasion on the day of black sun, only without the eclipse." I looked up in surprise.

"Wait… you're using my idea?" Matoro nodded.

"It was good, a direct assault with a few of us sneaking forward to take out the fire lord as quickly as possible. That way we can get the main fire nation army to surrender before there are too many casualties on either side." Matoro smiled. "I got to hand it to you Sokka, you're a military genus." I smiled until he finished. "But you're a complete failure when it comes to girls."

"What! I am not." I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"Really, then explain why your little sister got engaged before you? And only because I did the exact opposite of what you said to do." Matoro grinned at me. From across the table dad was smiling as well.

"He's got a good point Sokka, why haven't you asked Suki to marry you yet?" I stuttered as I searched my brain for reasons.

"I… um… we… uh…"

"See, there isn't a reason, you just don't know how." Matoro smiled. I tried to argue but I couldn't.

"I… I guess you're right." I said glumly.

"Are you conflicted with your choice?" Dad asked.

"No, I want to marry Suki. I haven't loved someone like this since Yue…"

"Then what's holding you back?" Matoro asked.

"I don't know!" I said. "Every time I think about it I seem to lose my courage and put it off… I just don't know." Matoro came and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Listen Sokka, your dad told me that time is short, any one of us might not get out of this alive. Wouldn't you rather go into battle knowing that no matter what happens Suki knows that she's the one you chose?" I thought about it for a second and realized that he was right.

"Great… now comes the hard part… even if I wanted to ask her, and I do want to, where am I going to get a betrothal necklace at a time like this?" Matoro thought for a moment and then smiled.

"I can think of one that is currently free, but Katara might not like this idea…"

…

Katara

I was talking with Ty Lee when I heard voices coming closer.

"No, this is a horrible idea."

"It's a great idea… but I don't see why I had to come along."

"Look pal, she is less likely to kill you than me so you are going to ask."

"What? I already proposed to her! This is your problem 'pal'!" Ty Lee and I looked at each other and then at the door as Sokka and Matoro walked though. They were trying to hide behind each other.

"Um, Katara, sis, I have a question to ask." Sokka nervously said.

"What?" I asked suspiciously.

"Um, well, I decided to propose to Suki…"

"That's great!" I smiled. "It's about time."

"And I was kind of wondering if I could have mom's necklace to give to her…" Sokka said. He then jumped behind Matoro and pointed at him. "His idea kill him not me." I looked down at the necklace wrapped around my belt. I disconnected it and held it in my hand. It had been handed down from Gran Gran to mom, and then to me. My hand came up and felt the necklace that Matoro had given me. It was almost an exact replica. I looked at Sokka and smiled.

"Sure Sokka, you can give it to her."

"Please don't hurt me… really?" he asked, poking his head out from behind Matoro."

"Yes," I said. "It's not like it's leaving the family… and I don't really need it anymore." Sokka stepped out from behind Matoro and looked at me.

"Katara, are you sure?"

"Yeah, I need to let go. Mom wouldn't want me to hold on to something that you could use." I handed it to him. "Go tell Suki how you feel about her." Sokka grinned and ran off. Matoro smiled at me.

"I think that you just made your brother very happy."

"Yeah, oh, I am totally going to get you back for thinking of that." I grinned at him.

"Wait… what? But, you liked the idea!" he protested.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I won't get back at you for thinking it up." I smiled.

"What are you going to do?"

"You'll find out." I smiled.

"Great… I love surprises." He muttered as he left the room.

"So, what are you going to do to him?" Ty Lee asked.

"That's for me to know and him to worry about." I smiled.

…

Suki

I was training in the hull of the ship, true it was hot and there wasn't a lot of room but I preferred to train away from prying eyes. I didn't want just anyone to know the secrets of the Kyoshi Warriors. I saddened when I thought of the other warriors. I promised myself that I would free them today. I heard the sound of someone coming down the stairs and turned. It was Sokka, he looked nervous.

"Hi, Suki… I have a question to ask you." He was holding something behind his back. I tried to get around him to look at it.

"Sokka, what do you have behind your back?" I asked.

"Turn around and close your eyes." He said. I looked at him. "Just trust me."

"Ok," I said. "But only because it's you." I turned around and closed my eyes. I could hear Sokka walk over to me. I felt him fasten something around my neck. Oh my… was that what I thought it was?

"Suki, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife." I opened my eyes and looked in the reflective surface of a nearby shield. I recognized the object around my neck right away.

"Sokka, this is your mother's necklace!" I gasped.

"Yeah, Katara gave it to me to use." I turned and gave him a big kiss.

"Of course I'll marry you!" I said happily. "Why didn't you ask sooner?"

"Please, don't make me go into that again, I had to give the reason to my dad and Matoro already." He groaned. I laughed.

"Still, you have horrible timing. You do know that we're about to enter a fight that we might not live through." I said.

"This will just give us all the more reason to live through it." He smiled. I hugged him happily.

"I guess it will, won't it?"

…

Matoro

I looked ahead of the ship; we were within an hour of the landing point. The sky bison and the airbenders had already left so that they could flank the enemy. I looked up at the sky where the comet was burning bright against the sky. I sighed sadly. There was no possible way that everyone would live through the day. All I could do was protect the ones I loved, and save the world for those that came after. Zuko came up behind me.

"Are you prepared for this?" he asked.

"Yeah, I think I am." I turned to him. "Zuko, do you feel any resentment towards me. There is a pretty good chance that I'm about to kill your father." He looked down.

"My father has burnt me, he has banished me and hurt thousands of people… no, I don't feel any resentment. I just want to help bring the world to peace." I nodded.

"You'll make an excellent fire lord." I said.

"Thank you Matoro, thank you." He said gratefully.

…

As the boats drew closer the warriors began to prepare for the attack. Suki reapplied her paint for the first time since she had been captured. Sokka put on the traditional wolf-head helmet of a water tribe warrior. Zuko chose to wear his princely armor over his blue spirit outfit; it was time for a fire lord to come home. The armor that Sokka had designed was attached to Appa. Momo found a small piece of red cloth and wrapped it around his head like a bandanna. Katara put on special waterbending gloves that held a small supply of water so that she would never be without her element. Ty Lee stretched so that she would be limber for the fight. Lhikan sharpened the blade on his board since he would most likely be riding it for most of the fight and mainly using his element. All over the ships warriors put on their armor and prepared their weapons. Matoro looked at the armor that Lhikan had given him at the beginning of this adventure. He was amazed at how far he had come. Soon he would be able to settle down and relax. But before that he needed to win one more fight. Matoro put on his armor and walked to the deck of the flagship. His team was waiting, Katara, Suki, Sokka, Ty Lee, Zuko, Jin, Lhikan, Appa, and Momo. Matoro smiled. He couldn't ask for a better group of friends. He only wished that Solek, Toph, Mai and Umbra could be here. He turned and faced the fire nation.

"I'm coming, fire lord Ozai… your time is almost up." He whispered to himself. Then he turned to his best friends and the love of his life and smiled.

"Ok guys… it's time to be heroes."

* * *

Author's note: We're approaching the last few chapters. Don't worry; they will be as epic as I can make them. And also I feel I need to apologize to those reading this story. I realized that I have committed a sacrilege… as far as I can remember Sokka has not thrown his boomerang once this entire story! Even if I am wrong and he has I feel like I have broken some unforgivable rule. So, to fix this I will include a rather awesome boomerang throw somewhere in the next few chapters. Look forward to it… it will be AWESOME! Thanks to all those who have reviewed and please keep up the comments… they have been wonderfully helpful and I look forward to every one.


	28. Rahkshi Apocalypse

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 27

Rahkshi Apocalypse

Mutran watched as the large fleet landed and the attacking army began to engage what little was left of the fire nation armed forces. Even with the massive boost from the comet, something that exceeded even his expectations, there were just not enough men. They would eventually be overwhelmed and destroyed. Not that Mutran cared; he had no need for the annoying organics. He smiled and turned to the chained figure next to him.

"It looks as if your army is about to fall, princess." Azula scowled at him.

"Laugh all you want fool, when the new troops get down there the attackers won't stand a chance." Mutran nodded.

"True, but all I have to do is give the orders and several thousand Rahkshi will swarm over this entire city, killing any organic they find… in the end, I win. And there is nothing you can do about it!" Azula dropped her head, she knew he was right. For the first time in her life she had been outmaneuvered. Mutran had played her like a Tsungi Horn, there was no way she could win this, not alone. Azula caught herself actually wishing that the Avatar was alive. She had a feeling that if he had lived then none of this would have happened. In killing the Avatar had she doomed not only the world but the entire human race? Mutran looked at the edge of the volcanic crater that the palace sat in and frowned.

"What is it now?" Azula snarled.

"It looks like some brave soul is trying to sneak around and take out the fire lord." Mutran smiled. "Well, I never was one to disappoint." With that he walked to the edge of the balcony and pulled a lever.

"What did that do?" Azula demanded.

"I just released your father from his tank." Mutran smiled. Azula's face went white, this was not good. There was no way that any of the attackers could beat him, and then he would come after her.

…

Matoro

I jumped off of Appa the second we landed on top of the volcano.

"I'm going straight for the palace to take out the fire lord, I need the rest of you to try to draw the Makuta out of hiding and keep him busy."

"You mean beat him, right?" Sokka asked hopefully.

"No Sokka," Lhikan sighed. "He means hope that we can keep him busy long enough for him to get overconfident and hope that we get a lucky shot in." Zuko looked at the small toa in surprise.

"You can't be serious… just how powerful is a Makuta?"

"Remember Tuyet?"

"Yeah." Zuko frowned.

"He's more powerful than that."

"Great." Zuko groaned. Katara jumped off and landed next to Matoro.

"I'm coming with you." She insisted. I sighed.

"I know that I won't be able to stop you, just be careful, ok?" Katara nodded. The two groups separated. Katara and I ran through the city towards the palace. I was surprised that there were no guards at the doors.

"Ok, that's weird." Katara said.

"Yeah, this whole thing feels like a trap." I said.

"I'm guessing that turning back isn't an option?" Katara looked at me.

"Sadly, no." I said as I walked towards the doors. "But we should at least make an entrance." I was about to blast down the door with lightning when the door decided that it would rather burst into flames. The intense heat made both of us step back. I gasped when I saw what stepped through the door. It was about eighty feet tall with huge wings and curled horns on the sides its face.

"None shall pass!" It roared and tried to incinerate me with a blast of fire. I quickly jumped behind a wall and turned to Katara. "What is that thing?" I asked.

"I… I think it might be the fire lord." She stuttered in fear.

"Really, then who gave him wings?" I asked. There was no more time to speculate as the wall was crumbled as the fire lord smashed through it. I quickly froze the air in front of Katara creating a gust that swept her inside a nearby house. I turned and drew my duel Kodachi. "Well, at least I don't have to waste time trying to get you to see the wrong of your ways." I dodged another fire blast. "Not much of a talker… are you?" it roared at me again and created a sword of fire. "Guess not."

…

Mutran smiled as the fire lord attacked the human. There was no doubt that the fire lord would win. No human could stop the power of a human perfectly bonded with the shadow powers of a Makuta. Still, there were those others. Mutran shrugged and walked over to the second lever that was on the balcony.

"Wait… what are you going to do?" Azula asked.

"I'm going to start the apocalypse." Mutran smiled as he pulled the lever.

…

Umbra

I heard the sound of gears turning and the rat looked up.

"Well, sounds like daddy dearest is letting my brothers out to play." The Rahkshi said as he changed into his true form. "Guess that our plan isn't going to work out the way we thought it would, too bad, for you that is." He began walking towards the door.

"Wait!" Mai said. "You promised to help us!" The Rahkshi turned around.

"No, I promised to use you." He laughed. "But don't think me ungrateful, here." With that he blasted the door down. "Good luck surviving, my brothers are set to destroy every organic from here to the edge of the water. Have fun kids!" he laughed as he ran out into the corridor. I stood up and looked out. After being cooped up in the cell for so long even stepping out into the hallway seemed like freedom. I turned to Mai.

"Come on, if we stay here we're dead for sure. We need to get out of the palace as quickly as possible."

"But what good will that do?" she asked. I grabbed her arm and pulled her after me while explaining.

"Mutran wouldn't reveal the Rahkshi unless there was someone who needed killing, and he didn't want to do it… therefore…"

"Matoro is here!" she said.

"Correct." I smiled. We ran down the hallway desperately looking for a way to escape. Unfortunately the hallway lead directly into Mutran's lab. We ran in full tilt and barely stopped before crashing into the entire Rahkshi army. We froze, and so did the Rahkshi. I was honestly scared, there were about a thousand of them in the room, with evidence that more had passed though and more were to come. And to top everything off I was without a weapon, or powers. Mai and I stared at them while they stared at us. From the corner of my eye I saw something that looked like a Midak Skyblaster. Desperately hoping it worked I kicked down one of the lab tables and grabbed the gun. Without even waiting to take aim I shot one of the Rahkshi, they gun worked. And since it fired light spheres the first five Rahkshi went down before the others could shoot back. I ducked under the table and handed a second gun to Mai. She looked at it in confusion.

"What is this?" she asked.

"No time to explain." I said as I shot a Rahkshi that poked its head over my makeshift barrier. "Just point the hole at the Rahkshi and pull the trigger." Mai nervously did just that. After seeing the Rahkshi fall in a smoking heap she began to smile.

"I think I like this." She said and quickly jumped up and shot six more. I pulled her down just in time to dodge a disintegration blast.

"Watch it!" I hissed at her. "These are Rahkshi… we need to be careful." Mai nodded in fear and then began to shoot them again. Desperately wishing for my staff I joined in. Our only hope was to hold out until help came, whenever that was.

…

Sokka

We ran towards the palace rear to try to sneak around and make sure that Matoro wouldn't have any nasty surprises waiting for him. Appa easily took down the wall and we continued in. We entered the palace and came to a dead end.

"Which way?" I asked. Zuko was about to answer when the floor began to rattle. Baking away in shock we barely got out of the way before six large monsters burst from the floor. Lhikan gasped and created flame swords.

"RAHKSHI!" He yelled as the first attacked. There was no more time for warnings after that as the palace suddenly seemed to fill with the creatures. They were large and made of metal; naturally this was a bad thing. Lhikan and Zuko took positions at either end of the corridor and used their flame powers to melt a lot of the beasts. Eventually we fought our way out of the dead end and ran deeper into the palace. With Lhikan and Zuko busy most of us got ahead. We ran into a large room and stopped to catch our breath. It was then that I realized that not all of us were here.

"Wait… where's Jin and Ty Lee?" I asked.

"I don't know." Suki gasped for breath while answering. "What were those things?"

"Whatever they were they were horrible." I said.

"That's just like you humans, anything that's not organic is ugly. Have you ever seen yourselves first thing in the morning? Not pretty." I turned at the mocking voice. I saw a boy leaning against the wall. He looked almost exactly like Matoro but was black from head to toe. I recognized him from Katara's description.

"S…Shadow?" I asked. The boy seemed pleasantly surprised at my knowledge of his name.

"Well, I see my reputation precedes me… and to whom do I owe the honor?" He laughed. I could feel the blood boiling in my body.

"You kidnapped my sister." I snarled.

"Wow, small world." He smiled. "What'cha going to do about it?" I drew my sword as Suki took a ready stance.

"I'm going to make you pay!" I yelled. But before I could attack him more Rahkshi came out of the floor. Shadow shook his head and smiled as if we were silly children.

"So you even have any idea of who you're messing with?" he asked. Then he turned to the Rahkshi. "Kill them."

…

Hakoda smiled, the attack was going well. In a few hours they would have the entire capital city under their control. Granted, there had been some surprises, mostly the new technology and weaponry that the fire nation had used against them. Even with Lhikan's warning it cost them dearly to defeat the strange new weapons that were being used. Pakku came and stood next to him.

"Woo, I think I'm getting to old for all this." The old master gasped as he brushed sweat off his brow.

"Don't give up yet old timer." Hakoda smiled. "We've still got a ways to go." Suddenly the ground began to shake beneath their feet. Iroh walked up with a concerned look on his face.

"What is that?" he asked. Slowly screams were becoming clearer and Hakoda could see a lot of the remaining fire nation army charging down at them. But they were not attacking, they were running. Hakoda's eyes grew large.

"Moon spirit protect us." He gasped as hundreds of Rahkshi appeared, killing any human who was too slow to outrun their attacks. Hakoda yelled out orders to his men.

"Gather together and prepare to fight, forget about the fire nation, we have a bigger problem." Hakoda felt his knees shake as he faced down the charging horde. When the fire nation army realized that their enemies were trying to help them they turned around and fell into ranks with the combined army. For the first time in a century the entire world was united, the only question was would they live long enough to celebrate that. Hakoda watched as the Rahkshi came closer, closer. He only wished that he could see his daughter again, one last time.

…

Sokka and Suki tried their best to fight the ten or so Rahkshi that attacked them. But it was Appa and Momo that were having the most success. Appa turned around and flattened several of the Rahkshi with a blast of air from his tail. Momo jumped on top of one of the Rahkshi and made it go crazy by punching it in the eyes. This made it shoot wildly and even made Shadow dive for cover to avoid being melted by the acid blasts. Sokka turned to see Suki fighting off a black Rahkshi and slowly losing. A green energy had surrounded her and the Rahkshi was somehow draining her energy. Almost without thinking his boomerang was in his hand. He threw it as he had never thrown it before.

"SUKI!" Sokka yelled as the boomerang flew. It was flying at such a velocity that it not only sliced the Rahkshi's head off at its skinny neck but it proceeded to do the same to five more Rahkshi that were nearby. And then, almost as if it had a mind of its own it returned to Sokka's hand. Suki looked at her fiancé in amazement.

"How… how did you make that throw?" she asked.

"What… what is that weapon?" Shadow asked in a mixture of fear and awe. Sokka looked at his favorite weapon and smiled. He suddenly threw it and pinned Shadow to the wall. He then drew his sword and walked over to the struggling shadow form/Rahkshi and placed it on his chest.

"That… was a boomerang. And this, is a space sword." With that Sokka stabbed Shadow right where his heart would be. The shadow form returned to his Rahkshi form and screeched in pain.

"No… I was going to kill Mutran, and then Matoro… and then…" No one ever knew what he was going to say next. For at that moment the light went out of his eyes and he passed on. The last words he heard were Sokka's

"Don't mess with my family!"

…

Matoro blocked the first swing of Ozai's sword and was hard pressed to attack back. The heat that the fire lord was generating was immense. It was so hot that Matoro was sweating though the chill that surrounded his body. The ice toa tried to create an ice blast to trap the fire lord's hand to the wall but the ice melted as soon as it left his body. Ozai laughed.

"Foolish boy, do you not know that Fire is stronger than ice? Fire is the best of all the elements. That is the way it has always been." With that Ozai tried once again to slice Matoro in half. Matoro barely dodged the blade and the heat generated from the attack burned his back. Matoro turned to face the fire lord.

"No one element is stronger than the other," he said, "THAT is the way it has always been." With that he used his newfound control of water to whip up a small rainstorm. The rain did little more than cool him down but it also boosted his spirits, he wasn't all out of powers after all. Matoro jumped in and out of attack range as Ozai swung his blade and sliced up several buildings. Several fires were started that Matoro quickly put out. He knew that he had to end this quickly, if the fight went on too long then Zuko might not have a city to return to as the new fire lord. He quickly tried to douse Ozai in a water blast that did no real damage, but it did do something else. Matoro saw that as long as the water hit Ozai the flames surrounding his body were swept away, leaving exposed skin. A plan slowly began to formulate in Matoro's head. He ran away from Ozai. The fire lord laughed as he gave chase.

"What? Giving up already hero?" he asked as he followed.

"You wish!" Matoro mocked as he ran for his goal, some fights needed a little more than brute force to win.

…

Iroh melted another Rahkshi as it tried to disintegrate him. He was fighting back to back with Hakoda; they had been separated from the rest of the army and were quickly being surrounded. Hakoda sliced another Rahkshi's head in half before looking at the horde that was coming.

"It looks like this is it." He said sadly.

"Yes, it does." Iroh admitted.

"Never thought that I'd die back to back with a firebender." Hakoda said wryly.

"And I never thought that I would die back to back with a water tribe chieftain." Iroh smiled.

"Well, let's make it a good death." Hakoda said. "So that our kids don't think any less of us." Iroh nodded and the two of them turned to face the enemy. They were about to attack when a large shadow fell over them. The two warriors looked up in shock as a huge dragon landed and incinerated several hundred Rahkshi in one massive fire blast. Hakoda shook his head as Solek, Toph and a metal monster jumped from the back of the dragon to land right next to him.

"Hi Hakoda!" Solek smiled. "We brought backup!" Iroh smiled and ruffled Solek's head.

"Yes, yes you did." He smiled.

"Where are the others?" Toph asked.

"They went to the palace, hurry and catch them." Hakoda said. "With this added help we should be able to handle things here." Solek nodded and helped Toph up on the Kikanalo.

"Let's go get them Tank." He yelled. The large beast roared happily and proceeded to smash a path though the few remaining Rahkshi.

"That boy never ceases to amaze me." Iroh smiled.

"I stopped being surprised by beings from that world after meeting Matoro, there is no one really like them." Hakoda smiled in response and then turned to the army.

"What? Are you lazy bums going to let the dragon have all the fun? We're winning now! Let's make the final push!" the army cheered. And then all of them, fire nation guards, water tribe warriors, earth kingdom soldiers and air nomad ninja's ran forward to finish the fight. The ironic thing that in attempting to take over the world Mutran had done what the Avatar had been trying to do. He had brought the world together.

…

Matoro continued running. He could see his goal up ahead. It was an aqueduct that was used to supply water to the palace. If he could only reach it then he might be able to soak the fire lord with enough water to actually land a hit on him. Matoro felt a huge shadow fall over him and looked up. He barely dodged in time as the fire lord came crashing down between him and the water.

"NO MORE RUNNING!" The monster yelled. Matoro stopped and threw up his hands just in time to let lose a massive ice blast that barely stopped the flames coming from the fire lord's sword. Matoro felt himself being pushed back; he realized that he was going to lose. He hadn't made it in time. Suddenly Matoro noticed something behind the fire lord and felt new energy flood into his body.

"You'll never beat me! NEVER!" He yelled. Ozai laughed.

"You're no Avatar… how could you ever hope to defeat me."

"A toa's secret weapon," Matoro smiled. "We never work alone." With that Katara bent the water from the aqueduct all over the fire lord. Ozai turned around and grabbed Katara off of the aqueduct. Katara gasped as the air was driven from her lungs. Ozai might not be on fire but he was still huge.

"You little maggot, how can you hope to stop me?" he laughed.

"PUT… HER… DOWN!" Matoro yelled as he jumped up in the air and landed on Ozai's back. Bracing himself against Ozai's wings he stabbed both his swords into the giant fire lord and then called down lightning from the sky to strike them. Ozai screamed in pain and dropped Katara. Matoro created an ice slide and caught her before landing a safe distance away. Ozai tried to pull the hated blades from his shoulder but in the action of that he tripped. The last thing that Ozai saw was Matoro creating an ice spear and throwing it at his face, and then, darkness.

…

Solek and Toph rode Tank into the throne room. Toph looked around in surprise.

"Where's Matoro?" she asked. "I thought that he'd be fighting the fire lord in here?"

"I don't know." Solek said.

"Fools." They turned to see Azula chained next to the throne. "Get out of here while you still have the chance!"

"Now, now princess." A voice said. "We don't want our guests running away do we?" Mutran stepped from the shadows and used a vacuum to close the doors. Solek recognized him.

"Mutran." He snarled as he jumped off of Tank.

"Ah, and Av-Matoran/Bohrok-Kal mix… you should be interesting to study." The Makuta smiled. Azula watched as the two warriors squared off. This was going to be a fight to remember.

* * *

Author's note: Ok, for those of you who were waiting for a huge fight between Matoro and Shadow... sorry, I decided to have Sokka take the glory for that one. As for an epic fight, if these weren't epic enough for you then how about the next fight on the list, Solek vs Mutran... Bohrok-Kal vs Makuta. It's coming up next so review and prepare. The end is almost here.


	29. The end of all things

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Bionicle (though I wish I did) and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Chapter 28

The end of all things

Lhikan, Zuko, Ty Lee and Jin ducked into a room and closed the door. Lhikan turned to the others.

"It won't be long until they break in here." He said. "We need to get out of here by then."

"What about Sokka and the others." Ty Lee asked.

"They'll be fine." Zuko assured her. "Those…"

"Rahkshi." Lhikan said.

"Right, those Rahkshi were coming after us, Sokka and the others most likely got a pretty good head start on them." Zuko smiled.

"But you ran right to us." The four turned just in time to see the remaining shadowbenders drop from the ceiling.

"Who?" Jin started to ask. Lhikan cut her off.

"We don't need to know who they are, we just need to live though fighting them!" without another world the shadowbenders attacked. Ty Lee's superior athletic skills came in handy. She dodged and parried quickly without getting hurt. Jin picked up a candle from a nearby table and tried to look intimidating, she wasn't very good at it. Seconds before she would have died to Aoshi's blade Zuko jumped in front of her and blocked the shadowbender leader. Lhikan found himself fighting back to back with Ty Lee, or, back to the back of Ty Lee's legs anyway.

"Gosh I HATE being short." Lhikan said under his breath as the shadowbenders closed in for the kill.

…

Mutran smiled at Solek evilly.

"So you're the little Bohrok-Kal that nearly managed to destroy Ba Sin Se are you?"

"How do you know about that?" Solek asked, not letting his guard down.

"Some, mutual friends of ours told me about it, after I captured them of course." Solek ran through who had been with Matoro.

"Wait… you have Umbra and Mai!" he yelled.

"Yes I do… such a fascinating pair. I do hope that they live though another one of my tests, it's so hard to study things that have a habit of dying. Perhaps I should be more considerate of the poor fools." Mutran laughed. Solek could feel the rage building inside of him. Mutran was responsible for so much pain in his home village. Some of Solek's best friends had been hurt very badly by this Makuta. Solek turned to Toph.

"Toph… I need you to leave." Toph looked in Solek's direction in surprise. He was glaring at Mutran.

"Why? I could help you…" her protests died out as he turned to her. Had she been able to see his face she would have been shocked at how violent is was. But even without seeing his face she could sense that there was something different about him.

"Toph, I am about to become a horrible monster… I do not want you here for that. Take Tank and go rescue Umbra and Mai… I'll be fine." Toph nodded and lead the reluctant Tank away. She stopped and turned around. Solek was surprised as she ran up and gave him a quick kiss, and then punched his shoulder.

"Don't die… if you do I will find a way to bring you back just so I can kill you again." Solek smiled.

"I love you too." He said. Toph nodded and ran off with Tank. Solek turned to face Mutran.

"Toph is gone now… there is nothing to hold me back." Solek said grimly. "Now you will die for your crimes against this world."Solek looked across the room at the Makuta. Both were sizing their opponents up. Mutran smiled and pointed.

"Rahkshi! Get him." several of the creatures jumped out of the shadows and ran at the small warrior. Solek created a sonic blade on the end of his right hand and smiled dangerously. The first Rahkshi attacked him and he split its staff in half with his blade. He then Spartan kicked it into the ground while grabbing the two pieces of the staff and driving them into the two closest Rahkshi. He then spun around and decapitated another one before driving his hand into the head of a forth and twisting. When he removed his hand he held the Kraata squirming in it and the Rahkshi armor fell to the ground twitching as the life faded from it. Azula watched in amazement, with little effort the small boy with the metal arm and eye destroyed one of the horrifying beasts after another, it was amazing. Solek spun and cut another four in half before dodging the disintegration blasts of three others. He was literally tearing though the Rahkshi as if they were nothing. One of the Rahkshi managed to hit him with a fear blast. Solek slowly turned and raised his hand. He created a sonic eruption around the Rahkshi that was at just the right frequency to liquidate the Kraata while leaving the armor intact. The Rahkshi screeched in pain and fell to the floor. Solek proceeded to do the same thing with a few others before slicing a Rahkshi who got too close in half. He was then swarmed by three white Rahkshi who hit him with anger blasts; in retrospect that was a really bad idea… it only made Solek angry at them. They lasted all of five seconds as he created a sonic wall that closed in and crushed them. The remaining Rahkshi were more careful, they knew that the strange warrior would kill them with ease if they got too close. Solek smiled again, now it was his turn to hunt. He jumped at the first Rahkshi and split it down its spine, revealing the Kraata within. He then began to blast the others with sonic blasts that were so strong that the Rahkshi crumpled to the ground after a single blast. Azula continued to stare, who was this kid?"

…

Umbra was not accustomed to fighting for his life. In Bionicle it was his enemies who felt as if they were doomed, not him. But the Rahkshi just kept coming. He had already used up one Skyblaster and was now holding one in each hand. He supposed that if he counted his kills they would beat any earlier record except possibly Voporak's. The only reason that they hadn't been overrun was the fact that the Rahkshi were bottled up in a narrow entryway and only five or so of them could get out at once. Umbra turned to say something to Mai when he saw a brown Rahkshi sneaking up on her from behind. It raised its staff to disintegrate her. Without even thinking Umbra jumped. He landed between Mai and the Rahkshi and shot it. But not before it fired its staff. Umbra felt a jolt of pain in his leg as he shot the Rahkshi a few more times to make sure it was dead. He heard Mai gasp and looked down, he had been hit. And it was bad.

…

Toph ran down the corridor quickly, she could hear the sounds of several large things crawling underneath her. All of a sudden the floor exploded as a Rahkshi tried to grab her. He made a small miscalculation however, he grabbed Tank. The unfortunate Rahkshi was pulled out of the floor and ripped in half by the Kikanalo's claws. Toph kept running, she was worried about Umbra and Mai. She made herself not think about the fact that Solek was back there fighting something so powerful that she could not comprehend how much trouble he was in. She had to reach Umbra and Mai before it was too late.

…

Umbra held his leg in shock; he was missing most of the lower part of his left leg. Mai was crying and the Rahkshi were getting closer now that they had realized that Umbra had stopped shooting. Umbra looked up. Was this it? Was he going to die here? He turned to Mai, no; he was not going to let her die. And that meant that he wasn't going to die, not without a fight. He forced himself to stand back up on his knees. Ignoring the pain that ran through his limbs he raised the Midak Skyblaster and took aim. Three Rahkshi were down before they realized that they were being attacked again. But now they saw that it was just a little human. They ran forward, trying to kill the annoying organic only to be pushed back by his attacks. Finally the Skyblaster ran out of energy. Umbra sat down in despair. He turned to Mai.

"I guess this really is it." He said, tears filling his eyes for probably the first time in his life. Mai scooted over and hugged him.

"At least we're going together." She said, smiling through he own tears.

"True." Umbra said as he kissed her. They stayed there as hundreds of Rahkshi charged towards their little makeshift fort, happy that, in the end; they at least had each other. The first Rahkshi looked over the tables and screeched at them. It raised its staff to melt them in acid, and found itself on the end of a Kikanalo horn. Tank and Toph charged into the fray, the Kikanalo's speed and size crushing several Rahkshi against the door to their secret chamber. Toph earthbended a wall that held it close and then walked over to the small wall of tables. She jumped over and nearly laughed at the sight of Umbra and Mai kissing. They were so intent on each other that they hadn't noticed that help had arrived.

"I hate to break the party up…" Toph joked. "But if you want to live we might want to get out of here before the Rahkshi smash that wall I set up to stop them." Umbra and Mai looked up in shock. Then they looked at each other and blushed.

"Um, so… we're not going to die." Mai smiled.

"Yeah, yay us." Umbra said before wincing and grabbing his leg.

"UMBRA!" Mai yelled.

"It's ok, but we should probably get out of here before I die from blood loss." He grimaced in pain. Toph nodded and earthbended them up on to Tank's saddle.

"Tank, find take them and find Katara… Umbra needs healing." The giant beast nodded and took off through the halls. Mai held Umbra close.

"Don't worry; we're going to make it." She said quietly, as if to convince herself of the fact. Toph watched them go and then ran back the way she and Tank had come. Now that Umbra and Mai were safe it was time to go and save Solek from himself.

…

Solek had finally stopped; all around him over a hundred Rahkshi were in various stages of death. Solek turned to the startled Makuta Mutran.

"Your turn." He said as he pointed his sonic blade at the Makuta. Mutran wasn't sure what to think. The human's eyes had misted over and were pure white. Mutran created his shadow blade and extended his arm in a stab. Solek barely moved… he just created a sonic wall to block it. In another second he had jumped at Mutran swinging his sword. Mutran teleported out of the way and tried to blast Solek with his heat ray vision. Again Solek blocked it with a sonic wall. He then sent out a blast that nearly hit Mutran, it did take a large chunk out of the wall behind the Makuta. Mutran then created a vacuum around Solek in an attempt to suffocate him. Solek spun around and jumped out of the trap before it had even closed on him. Solek took a defensive stance and grinned at Mutran.

"Why are you grinning you insufferable whelp?" Mutran roared while shooting out a shadow hand to swallow him.

"Just thinking that you lost this fight from the beginning… I am Bohrok-Kal; I was made with Makuta in mind. But I also have a Matoran mind, I can think for myself. There is no way you could win." said Solek while blocking the shadow hand and grabbing it. Mutran's eyes budged out of his head in surprise as Solek pulled the Makuta towards him and swung at his midsection. Mutran turned intangible a second before he would have been sliced in half. Mutran returned to his original density and slashed at Solek. Solek blocked and parried. The two traded blows for a few minutes as Mutran became more despite… he was not a warrior, Solek was. Desperate for just a little more power Mutran began absorbing all of the shadow within the palace.

…

Zuko ducked under Aoshi's shadow blade and jumped out of the way of yet another shadow knife. He couldn't last much longer. Suddenly the strange warrior clasped his chest and fell to the ground, all around him the shadowbenders were all behaving the same way. Zuko looked at Lhikan in confusion as dark energy seemed to flow from their bodies.

"What… what's going on?" Jin asked.

"I think that their master has called back his power." Lhikan frowned. The event proved too much for most of the shadowbenders, several of them just melding with the shadow that they had so recently used as their weapon. Soon only Aoshi was left. He fell to the ground as all of the shadow was drained out of him. Lhikan walked over and felt for a pulse.

"He's still alive!" Lhikan exclaimed in surprise. "We need to get him out of here!"

"But he attacked us." Ty Lee protested.

"Rule number one of being a good guy; never leave a wounded enemy behind." Lhikan said as he placed Aoshi on his board. "Plus, this guy has some explaining to do."

…

"Ah," Mutran said, licking his lips. "Now that was refreshing."

"No matter how much energy you absorb you will still lose!" Solek yelled as he jumped at the Makuta. Mutran only had to fight for a minute to realize that Solek was right. There was no way he could win in an extended fight. He decided that it was time for a few mind tricks. Mutran quickly jumped back and shape shifted into Lhikan.

"Would you really kill your hero?" he asked. He barely dodged as Solek stabbed at him. Mutran then turned into Mai. "What about your friend?" he snarled.

"Give it up Makuta… these tricks won't work on me" Solek said while charging. He stopped abruptly as Mutran turned into Toph.

"Really? Would you really kill the one you love, even if you knew it wasn't her?" The Mutran/Toph smiled evilly. "Especially if I do this?" with that Mutran jumped behind a pillar. Solek ran around it and was shocked to see two Tophs.

"Toph! I told you to stay away!" he yelled.

"But after we found Umbra and Mai I sent Tank to get them to safety, I was worried about you." One of the Tophs said.

"Liar!" The other yelled "You're a fake… I'm the real Toph!"

"What? You're the one that's lying!" the other Toph yelled. Solek looked from one to the other… they were identical in every way. There had to be a way to find out who was who. But how? He slammed his hand into a nearby pillar, splintering it as if it was made of wood instead of marble.

"Be quiet for a second!" he yelled. If only there were some way to tell them apart... if only. Suddenly Solek knew what he had to do. He pointed his blade at them. "I'm sorry, but for the fate of this world I am going to have to take you both out." Both Tophs looked at him in shock.

"You'd just kill us?"

"Why?"

"Because one of you is an evil Makuta… I cannot take any risk of him living. I am truly sorry." With that he jumped forward so that he could hit them with one slice. The Toph on the right stood still while the one on the left winced. Without a seconds hesitation Solek drove his blade into the Toph on the left. He glared into her eyes as she changed back into Mutran. "The real Toph can tell when people are lying… She knew that I was bluffing." Mutran gasped for air as his armor began to break down. Because Solek had stabbed him while he had a physical form it had actually done damage to his body. Mutran looked into the cold hard eyes of his slayer.

"But… this… is… madness." He managed to say.

"Madness?" Solek asked.

* * *

Author's note: Yeah, I am really going to do that.

* * *

"No,"

* * *

Author's note: I really am going to be that lame.

* * *

"THIS! IS!"

* * *

Author's note: Here it comes.

* * *

BOHROK-KAL!" Solek screamed into the dying Makuta's face.

* * *

Author's note: I apologize… that was lame… but at the same time, kind of cool. I mean, what else to you say after Spartan kicking a RAHKSHI in the face for Mata Nui's sake!

* * *

Mutran felt the strength draining out of his limbs as he slipped away. He could almost hear Teridax laughing at him. He, Mutran, had been beaten by a boy… a little Matoran who had somehow become one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe.

…

As Mutran died all of the remaining Rahkshi stopped whatever they were doing and screeched. The sound was so loud that several glass objects shattered. Then the Rahkshi turned and ran away. Everyone was confused for a minute until Bumi let out a whoop.

"We did it! We won!" then the entire battlefield erupted in cheers.

…

Toph looked at Solek in fear. He was breathing hard and it was clear that he was having a hard time calming down. Finally he took a deep breath.

"I did it… I killed a Makuta." He seemed shocked. Then he looked around at all the dead Rahkshi. "Did… did I do that too?" he asked.

"Yeah, you did." Toph said in awe.

"I can't believe it." Solek started. "I BEAT KOPAKA'S RECORD!" Toph laughed at her friend throwing his arms in the air and dancing around. Solek ran over and gave her a big hug. "I can't believe it… I am no officially awesome… there is nothing that I… oh." Solek realized what he was doing and jumped back. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me." He blushed.

"It's ok, I liked it." Toph smiled as she gave him a hug of her own. They might have been there a while if not for Azula.

"Hey… isn't anyone going to unchain me?" she asked. Solek and Toph looked at each other and laughed.

"I think we'll let your brother do that." Toph smiled as she put her arm in Solek's and they walked out of the chamber.

"What! No, do not let him in here! Are you even listening to me? UNCHAIN ME NOW!" The happy couple grinned all the way out of the palace. They passed Zuko and Jin on the way out.

"Hey, Zuko, go into the throne room if you want a good laugh." Solek grinned. Zuko looked at Jin in confusion.

"Why are they so happy?" He wondered aloud. Jin smiled and kissed him.

"They're alive, why shouldn't they be happy?"

…

Matoro watched as the corpse of Ozai began to burn itself away. He then noticed that he was still holding Katara.

"Um, sorry about that." He said as he put her down. Katara smiled.

"I always knew you'd end up carrying me but I figured that you'd at least wait until after the ceremony." She joked.

"Wait… what?" Matoro looked at her in confusion.

"Oh, nothing." Katara laughed as she gave him a kiss. "You did it Matoro, you saved the world."

"And I didn't die this time." Matoro grinned.

"Yeah, you are getting better at that." Katara agreed. They watched as the comet continued to burn in the sky. The cheering was so loud that they could hear it from where they were standing. Matoro smiled and wrapped his arm around Katara.

"You said that I saved the world, that's not entirely true. We all did." Katara smiled and nodded. Balance had finally been restored.

* * *

One more chapter... just one more and the Champion of Ice will be over. Please review and let me know how I did up to this point. Thanks!


	30. Epilogue

Author's note: I dedicate this last chapter of "The Champion of Ice" to you, the reader. Thanks for staying with the story though the typos, wacky jokes, and somewhat interesting plot twists. And double thanks to those of you who reviewed… you made this chapter possible.

I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender, Bionicle or Avatar: the Legend of Korra and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

Epilogue

Zuko's coronation was something to behold. Even though the battle had been a short week before Bumi and his earthbenders had worked hard to make the palace usable. People from all four nations stood and cheered as the new fire lord took his place at the throne. The cheering became even louder when his bride, Jin, walked up the isle to take her place next to him. Zuko smiled at her and then addressed the crowd.

"I know that my job will not be easy. This world has been wracked with war for over a hundred years. There will be many who do not trust the fire nation, and rightfully so. We have done nothing to earn their trust. But I promise that I will do everything in my power to return the honor of the fire nation. In this last battle we got a taste of what we did to the entire world. In a single day our home was devastated by an attack that none of us could have expected. It will take years to rebuild, and even longer to heal the wounds that we have created. But together with our friends…" Zuko smiled over at where Matoro and the others sat. "We will succeed. For if we learn one thing from the events of the past few months then it should be that together we can do anything." The cheers were almost deafening. Iroh felt tears come to his eyes; this day would truly go down in history.

…

The banquet afterward was truly amazing. Solek was overjoyed with how much food there was.

"Ooo! That cake looks good… and that pie… oh there's just so much food!" Toph smiled at her boyfriend and held him back.

"Solek, remember, you can grow WIDER as well as taller in this world." She grinned. "Plus, my parents are watching." Solek turned and halfheartedly smiled at the two adults who were doing their best to ignore him.

"I don't think they like me." He frowned.

"That's ok, they don't have much say in the matter." Toph smiled.

"Still, why don't they like me?" Solek asked.

"Hey Solek… want to help me demolish this cake?" Sokka called from across the table.

"You bet!" Solek yelled happily as he vaulted over the table. Toph shook her head.

"I think it might have something to do with that." She smiled to herself. "Oh well, I wouldn't have you any other way."

…

Matoro was trying to concentrate, and was failing miserably. Katara and Suki had been talking nonstop past few hours. He turned to Hakoda and gave him a pleading look.

"Please tell me that she'll get out of this phase." Hakoda laughed.

"She's just excited about the wedding." He smiled at his soon to be son in law.

"I know but… she keeps looking at me and getting this hungry look in her eyes. It's kind of scary." Hakoda laughed and elbowed Sokka, nearly making him choke on his piece of cake.

"Sounds like your sister has an interesting first night planned for our little hero huh?" Sokka swallowed and smiled.

"Figures she'd plan something like that." He smiled.

"Wait… what are you talking about?" Matoro asked, growing more confused and worried by the second. "What is she going to do to me?" Hakoda and Sokka laughed and laughed.

"You… you'll find out!" Hakoda was barely able to get out through the laughter.

"Well, that's comforting." Matoro grumbled to himself as he tried to eat.

"What's comforting?" Katara asked him. Finally taking an interest in what her soon to be husband and father were talking about. "And why are Sokka and dad laughing so hard?" Matoro sighed.

"Katara, will you promise me something?"

"Anything." She smiled

"Promise not to kill me after we get married." Katara looked at Matoro in surprise.

"But, what made you think that I would?"

"Sokka and Hakoda keep laughing about 'something you have planned' and won't tell me what it is. So I naturally I want to make sure that it won't hurt." Katara blushed.

"Um, I don't think it will… I'm pretty sure it won't anyway."

"Great… I am so looking forward to it." Matoro sarcastically said while putting his head in his hands. Suki laughed at Katara's attempts to calm the toa down without actually telling him what she had planned for him.

"Give it up Katara, he has no idea what's coming." She smiled.

"I know, it's more fun that way." Katara smirked.

…

Umbra took a look at his bandaged leg.

"Well, I think that I can say without a scrap of doubt that my running days are over." Mai smiled and took one of his hands in hers.

"You don't mind, do you?" she asked.

"Not really, I guess that my dreams of world travel are shot though." He grinned. "But at least you never have to worry about me ever running away from you."

"As if you could ever get away from me." Mai laughed. They were in the hospital ward of the palace in sickbeds. Mai was at least able to sit up but the doctor had said that Umbra would most likely need weeks of rest before he was well enough to move. There was a knock at the door and Zuko and Jin walked in.

"Well, well, if it isn't the new fire lord." Umbra smiled. "Sorry we missed the coronation, and wedding."

"You had a good reason." Zuko smiled.

"Shouldn't you to be out greeting your guests?" Mai asked.

"Yeah, but we wanted to make sure that you two were ok." Jin smiled.

"I've been better, but I think we'll manage." Umbra smiled. "How are things going out there?" Zuko laughed.

"Ty Lee's family is here. Lhikan is scared silly and hiding. I don't think he thought that there could be so much pink in one place." Mai laughed while Umbra raised an eyebrow.

"What's so bad about Ty Lee's family?" he asked.

"She has six sisters, and they are all exactly like." Umbra smiled.

"Well, at least he won't be bored." Mai nodded and then turned to Zuko.

"I've been meaning to ask you, what do you plan on doing with Azula." Zuko sobered up quickly.

"I've decided to imprison her on Kyoshi Island. Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors have been taking nerve jab lessons from Ty Lee; they should be able to handle her." Mai nodded, it was the best she could have hoped for.

"So Ty Lee joined the Kyoshi warriors." Umbra said. "Can't say that I'm too surprised." Zuko nodded. Suddenly Ty Lee poked her head in the room.

"Hi guys… did Lhikan come in here?" everyone shook their heads. "Ok, glad to see you're getting better Mai!" Ty Lee smiled as she closed the door. Everyone looked at each other and then broke out laughing. Lhikan was going to have an interesting life in this world, that was for sure.

…

Lhikan was actually sitting on the roof of the palace. He was lying down and had crossed his legs and put his hands behind his head.

"They'll NEVER find me here." He smiled to himself. He watched the birds flying around and felt peace in his soul for the first time in millennia. Tuyet was dead, for real this time, and he had really good friends. Lhikan heard footsteps behind him and jumped up, ready to run from the pink brigade at any second. It was only Ty Lee, and she was holding her hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"It's ok, it's just me." She smiled. "Can I sit down?"

"Well, as long as it's just you." Lhikan said. Ty Lee smiled and sat down next to him. "So," Lhikan said. You joined the Kyoshi warriors… congratulations." Ty Lee beamed at him.

"Yeah, as soon as they got out I went and apologized to them. We ended up becoming good friends and, after a few nerve jab lessons, they asked me to join them."

"So I guess you'll be living on Kyoshi now huh?" Lhikan asked.

"Yeah," Ty Lee said. "Don't get me wrong, I love it around here. But with all of my sisters it's hard to feel like an individual. So I decided that moving was a good idea." Lhikan laughed.

"So you want to be an individual but you're joining a group that wears all the same uniform and makeup. That's funny Ty Lee."

"Hey I… never really thought about it like that." Ty Lee said sheepishly and then changed the subject. "So, what are you doing next?" she asked.

"Some of the Rahkshi got away from the island." He said. "I plan to go and hunt them all down."

"What… all by yourself?" Ty Lee asked.

"Well, it's the way I've done things for a while now…" Lhikan said. "I guess I've kind of gotten used to it." Ty Lee nodded and stood up.

"Well, if you ever need anyone for anything, you know where to find me." She said as she started to walk away. She stopped as a small hand took hers. She looked down to see Lhikan blushing and staring at his feet.

"Um… Ty Lee… thank you, for being there for me, after Tuyet I mean." Ty Lee smiled and bent down to his height.

"You're welcome Lhikan." She said as she gave him a little kiss on the cheek. "Just remember, I'm always there for you… and you won't be six forever." Ty Lee winked and then walked away. Lhikan touched his cheek in shock.

"What does that mean? I won't be six forever?" He asked himself. Suddenly six figured peeked out of a nearby window.

"THERE HE IS!" one of them yelled. Without a second thought Lhikan combined his swords and took off. Maybe Ty Lee wasn't so bad, but her sisters were!

…

Aoshi awoke in a sickbed. He turned and saw the leader of his kind sitting next to him.

"Grandmaster Toku!" he exclaimed. He attempted to bow but winced in pain. "What… what happened to me?"

"Careful," the grandmaster cautioned him. "For the past month and a half you have been controlled by a creature of great evil. It was only when he withdrew his dark power that you remembered who you were." Aoshi shook his head.

"It's all a blur, what happened to my tribe?"

"They were all killed by the same monster" Toku replied. Aoshi fought hard to hold back tears.

"I see, was there nothing that could be done?" he asked.

"No, there was nothing." Aoshi nodded.

"Then I will dedicate the rest of my life to honoring them." Toku nodded his head; it was the right thing to do.

…

The world began to settle, finally at balance. All the four elements were united once again. Had anyone been paying attention they would have noticed an interesting coincidence. A week after the Avatar's death a little baby girl had been born into the Southern Water Tribe. Her father had died in the war and he mother did not survive though childbirth. In the past few months she had grown and shown all the normal signs of a healthy baby. Her name was Korra, but she was anything but normal. Indeed, had Matoro and the others known of her existence and the impact she was going to have on the world they would have been in great fear. As it was only two beings in the entire universe knew who she was. One was Aang who was both shocked and overjoyed at her birth. The other was someone a lot more sinister. Ozai laughed from the spirit world… it was not over yet!

* * *

And this is the part where (hopefully) you all say, yay! A sequel is on the way! I hope at least that no one is smacking their head in frustration. But hey, you can't please everyone. I will be writing a sequel sometime soon, it probably won't go as fast as this one did (Did I really do all that in two months?) but it will be called "Warrior of Fire, legends never die" and will be posted on this site. It will mostly focus around Lhikan and his adventures with the new avatar. And for those of you who want to know Korra is she is the next Avatar that will be in the new series Avatar: the Legend of Korra premiering next year on Nickelodeon. Thanks for reading and continue to review this story. I might do a little tweaking but for the most part I am done. Thanks again and don't worry, "Warrior of Fire" will answer all of those inevitable questions about all the unfinished plots I left at the end of this story. And why there is a new Avatar at all.

**_ToaofIce_**


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